Timber Hunting For Elk

[Muley_Stalker]

I've mentioned in several threads that my method of hunting is still hunting the Timber. I've done it for 6 decades exclusively and still enjoy the method. I've never considered any other way

I ran across this article about it and thought some of you might be interested. I don't agree 100% with all he said but he's close.

Have a look.

https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/big-game/elk-hunting-the-lost-art-of-the-timber-sneak

 

[GASoline71]

I hunt the west slope of the Cascade Mountains in WA State. Have been hunting this way for elk for almost 2 decades. There have been the occasional elk hunts where we look for different terrain and get as high up as possible to glass. But I always tend to head back into the timber to hone my ninja like elk skills.

Gary

 

[Muley_Stalker]

Here's one more. I know the author of this article. He's a biologist. At the end of the article I made the first comment. I use the name Still Hunter on a few forums. I talked to him quite a bit after I read this article. Good guy. I agree 100% of this article.

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[GASoline71]

Those are both good articles. The second one is a great read.

Gary

 

[ntodwild]

Here's one more. I know the author of this article. He's a biologist. At the end of the article I made the first comment. I use the name Still Hunter on a few forums. I talked to him quite a bit after I read this article. Good guy. I agree 100% of this article.

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Here in the west when not knowing an area or not having boots on the ground scouting/cameras. "Still" hunting is truly effective as long as you have the patients for it (your in their world and elk have a huge advantage on you "site, sound, smell" when you are moving through the woods, specially if they are bed down). Just realize that if you don't have the patients and can't get through the woods with ninja superiority, pay close attention to wind you're most likely wasting your time and most often than not will get busted if elk are close. If this is one of your typical hunt areas you won't do yourself any favors by blowing them out. It's a double edged sword for an area you plan on hunting all season. I have taken 1/2 a dozen elk during "mid day" using the still hunting method (archery) even in well scouted areas and local pressured areas I am familiar with. I am more of a ground blind ambush, well scouted area hunter. Being retired allows plenty of time for scouting which does help with the ambush method of hunting even in the backcountry. Much of the trail and elk travel information in his article is spot on from my experience.

 

[Muley_Stalker]

Yes, it takes a lot of patience and lots of scouting. It makes no sense to still hunt timber with no elk. I scout at least 150-200 days a year. If i'm not hunting I might as well be scouting. Just watching elk, muleys, and bears will help you be a better hunter.

Hunting game when all their senses are at 100% is very rewarding and my idea of fair chase. It's not for everybody but it works for me. My dad used to say to me............Son, never pull the trigger if the hunt was too easy. I never forgot that.

 

[Hummer]

Thanks for posting the articles, ElkStalker, I enjoyed them. I primarily hunt the dense spruce-fir forest and the adjacent mixed aspen/spruce-fir. Almost all of my elk have been taken at 70 yards or less, some much closer. I live in a riparian spruce-fir forest and I'm at home in it. I have no interest in the kind of hunting that requires long shots on elk. I want to hear, see and smell them up close.

 

[westbranch]

This seems like the best way to hunt in North Idaho outside of the rut. Most spots that give you a chance of glassing have a lot of hunters at them. I hate to be sitting glassing a small clearing when I could be wandering through the woods at least finding spots for archery season. I know I need to work on my moving slow and patience. Most of the areas I have been trying this would have shots <50 yards.

Saturday morning my wife and I were out in the woods and she was the one with the elk tag. Got on some fairly fresh tracks in light snow and she really enjoyed stalking along, never caught up to the elk. BUT we did run into a guy that killed a huge 7x7 only a couple 100 yards away that morning. I like to think those were the tracks we were on. We were about 30 mins too late. He was hunting the same way, so it was cool to see how close we were even when we did not see it.

 

[44hunter45]

This seems like the best way to hunt in North Idaho outside of the rut. Most spots that give you a chance of glassing have a lot of hunters at them. I hate to be sitting glassing a small clearing when I could be wandering through the woods at least finding spots for archery season. I know I need to work on my moving slow and patience. Most of the areas I have been trying this would have shots <50 yards.

Saturday morning my wife and I were out in the woods and she was the one with the elk tag. Got on some fairly fresh tracks in light snow and she really enjoyed stalking along, never caught up to the elk. BUT we did run into a guy that killed a huge 7x7 only a couple 100 yards away that morning. I like to think those were the tracks we were on. We were about 30 mins too late. He was hunting the same way, so it was cool to see how close we were even when we did not see it.

Amen westbranch. Here in Idaho Unit 8/8a my LONGEST shot on an elk has been less than 100 yards. My closest 6 yards with a .30-06. I killed one in Unit 16 at 160 yards. After listening to Randy's talk with Todd Orr, I'm thinking of hangin up the rifle and going 100% wheel gun. I always seem to end up lugging a bipod equipped magnum in the thick jungle and I keep wondering why I do that.

 

[nuevo_eph]

After not being able to find the elk in a hunt in Wyoming this year I can look back and deduce that I should have hunted the timber like this suggests. However, as an out of state hunter I don't the area and without snow on the ground I couldn't even begin figure out which draw to have worked through.

 

[GASoline71]

After not being able to find the elk in a hunt in Wyoming this year I can look back and deduce that I should have hunted the timber like this suggests. However, as an out of state hunter I don't the area and without snow on the ground I couldn't even begin figure out which draw to have worked through.

I hunted The Lolo Unit for elk last year in ID as an out of state hunter (We decided to go to ID very late in the year and that was the only area still available OTC). We pounded Smith Ridge and it was the first time I heard an elk bugle during rifle season. Coming from WA we get the post rut and beyond for rifle season. I did a lot of E-scouting with OnX and Google Earth, and almost every area we looked at on our laptop looked almost entirely the same when we got there. It was thick stuff, and was exactly like what I hunt in WA. We used the timber stalking techniques we use in WA, and it put us close enough to smell elk, but not get a shot. That's one of the "pitfalls" to timber hunting, as sometimes it's impossible to get off a good shot.

OnX maps was a huge help in out success at sneaking through the timber. It showed us exactly where were were and that our E-scouting had paid off in getting to areas we wanted to hunt.

Gary

 

[nrpate05]

I really enjoy it when there is snow on the ground. One of the best hunts of my life was tracking an elk herd through the timber in the icy Wyoming cold after a fresh blanket of snow came through. I bumped a few elk and eventually caught up to them and shot a cow at less than 20 yards. Crazy exciting.

 

[daltrix99]

Yep, love it. We do this in western Montana after unsuccessful archery seasons and jokingly call it 'bowhunting with our rifles'. A few years ago my hunting partner shot a dandy bull in his bed in thick timber at 25yds, similar to the MeatEater article above. When hunting dark timber, with bow or rifle, I always find that the slower I move, and the harder I look, the more often I find elk. And believe it or not, glassing can be effective! I have spotted elk in thick timber with a slow glass scan, even at pretty close distances, that I might have missed with the naked eye.

 

[kad11]

I really enjoy it when there is snow on the ground. One of the best hunts of my life was tracking an elk herd through the timber in the icy Wyoming cold after a fresh blanket of snow came through. I bumped a few elk and eventually caught up to them and shot a cow at less than 20 yards. Crazy exciting.

Hunting the rut gets all the attention, but tracking a bull and putting him down in his bed or taking one unaware at close range while still hunting is the ultimate rush in my opinion. Pure, simple, no-nonsense hunting ...

 

[rtraverdavis]

Would you dark timber guys say that this method is worthwhile for a hunter who comes from out of state, knows how to use maps and locate benches, but hasn’t been able to put in lots of boots-on-the-ground scouting? Going in blind in likely areas seems like a tough proposition to me.

 

[Hummer]

Tough yes, but it's better than hunting blind out in the open. You have to hunt elk where the elk are. Just don't get lost.

 

[Muley_Stalker]

Would you dark timber guys say that this method is worthwhile for a hunter who comes from out of state, knows how to use maps and locate benches, but hasn’t been able to put in lots of boots-on-the-ground scouting? Going in blind in likely areas seems like a tough proposition to me.

It might take a while to get to know the unit and where the bulls hang out after the rut is over. The only way to do that as a NR is to hunt the same unit all the time until you know it better. The only advantage we residents have over NR hunters is repetition. Hunting different units all the time is not the answer for a still hunter. I have over 50 elk hunts in one unit. I know where the bulls hide.

 

[Cav1]

And believe it or not, glassing can be effective! I have spotted elk in thick timber with a slow glass scan, even at pretty close distances, that I might have missed with the naked eye.

I don't do near as much still hunting as I used to, but ditto on glassing in the thick stuff. I do an awful lot of that too, which takes even longer and requires even more patience. It's a little different technique you hone as you go. You learn to look through the "wall of green", seeing as far as possible into the timber ahead through every little gap and opening and constantly refocusing the binos for sharpness and detail with every little change in distance. Quite often I'll take a knee or even go prone to observe; you'll be surprised how much further you can see, especially in Douglas fir stands where there isn't too much underbrush.

 

[JLS]

Would you dark timber guys say that this method is worthwhile for a hunter who comes from out of state, knows how to use maps and locate benches, but hasn’t been able to put in lots of boots-on-the-ground scouting? Going in blind in likely areas seems like a tough proposition to me.

I think so, but conditions play a large role in this too. If you have good snow conditions, you can drastically shorten up the learning curve and up your odds significantly. Obviously, elk densities also play a big role in this as well. Elk still have to eat, so there is some rhyme and reason to this strategy.

 

[Hummer]

And believe it or not, glassing can be effective! I have spotted elk in thick timber with a slow glass scan, even at pretty close distances, that I might have missed with the naked eye.

I don't do near as much still hunting as I used to, but ditto on glassing in the thick stuff. I do an awful lot of that too, which takes even longer and requires even more patience. It's a little different technique you hone as you go. You learn to look through the "wall of green", seeing as far as possible into the timber ahead through every little gap and opening and constantly refocusing the binos for sharpness and detail with every little change in distance. Quite often I'll take a knee or even go prone to observe; you'll be surprised how much further you can see, especially in Douglas fir stands where there isn't too much underbrush.

Very true. Using binoculars in the dense timber allows you to double, sometimes triple the distance you can see. I credit the use of binoculars in the forest with most of my elk kills.