Elk hunting question

[Gnomepunter]

So I am out here in Montana attempting to locate some of these danged elusive Elk. Not going to ask for any honeyholes or anything lol. So my question is at this time would I be better suited glassing up high or trying to get down in some drainages? I have been focusing on south slopes as the north slopes seem fairly covered in snow right now. Mostly units 323 and 324 feel free to let me know if these units are a bad choice.Thanks in advance.

 

[Gnomepunter]

P.S. I did glass up two decent Moose a couole days ago. If anyone has a moose tag I am more than happy to dm you the location. Not sure if posting it on the open forum would be looked down on.

 

[nrpate05]

You find elk where they are, duh! I would start by developing a strategy. Start at high elevation and ideally from a spot you can see different aspects. I'm not sure how much snow is on the north face, but elk can deal with quite a bit of it before they move out. If you're not seeing them at the high elevations, move down and do the same thing - find glassing spots you can see different terrain from. If there are a lot of hunters, try to think about where the elk may go if they are bumped. Is there a saddle that may funnel them to some nasty terrain?

I've come to believe that public land elk hunting is all about being creative. Look for features that other hunters would overlook. Is there a creek crossing to get into some good habitat? An immediate steep climb? Many years ago I glassed a nice bull during rifle season in CO that was less than a half mile from a busy parking lot and just above a trail. He was in some cliffy terrain that you couldn't see from the parking lot or trail. Dozens of people walked right by him and likely never even considered trying to look there probably because it was 'too close to the truck'

 

[Deez Nutz]

I would venture to guess that there are more hunters in those 2 units than any other units in montana right now. You aren't going to find elk doing elk things. You are going to find elk with their tongues hanging out of their mouth running from the last group of sxs hunters that shot at them.

 

[brymoore]

P.S. I did glass up two decent Moose a couole days ago. If anyone has a moose tag I am more than happy to dm you the location. Not sure if posting it on the open forum would be looked down on.

What elevation?

 

[Gerald Martin]

Elk can handle more snow than hunters can. Go high.

 

[rjthehunter]

Pretty busy units in my experience. But as others said, find areas others aren't willing to go. Up and over usually. It doesn't even have to be extreme, up and over 500ft can put you in elk in my experience there. Dudes in sxs are everywhere theres a trail and a lot of them dont like to get out!

 

[Deez Nutz]

There's not enough snow yet to keep any hunters out of anywhere in that area. This is a tricky area because there are literally roads (open or closed, doesn't matter, people drive them anyway) everywhere and the very few places that have a mile or more between roads are targeted by the "hardcore backcountry" types that cause arguably even more congestion. Nearly impossible to get away from people. I wasn't joking when I said the elk run from hunter to hunter from dawn to dusk. There's nowhere they can go without feeling immense pressure which is why there are so many of them on the pivots.

 

[Rogerdoger]

Are you at your glassing spot early, before first light and staying out until after dark? Are you going back to camp during the day? You should not be in your camp during the day at all, unless you are dropping off meat.

 

[brockel]

Elk can handle more snow than hunters can. Go high.

Have glassed bulls over thanksgiving with their belly’s damn near dragging in the snow digging through the snow eating and them still refusing to move downhill

 

[rjthehunter]

There's not enough snow yet to keep any hunters out of anywhere in that area. This is a tricky area because there are literally roads (open or closed, doesn't matter, people drive them anyway) everywhere and the very few places that have a mile or more between roads are targeted by the "hardcore backcountry" types that cause arguably even more congestion. Nearly impossible to get away from people. I wasn't joking when I said the elk run from hunter to hunter from dawn to dusk. There's nowhere they can go without feeling immense pressure which is why there are so many of them on the pivots.

I know a group that was on the last morning of their hunt and they were spent after 8 days. They decided to find somewhere to park in their truck watching an area on their last morning when 2 cows and a little bull walked past the truck. They got out and shot the 2 cows...

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Go to your hunting area, look around until you find some terrain that no one in their right mind would go hunt, then go look there.

 

[Gnomepunter]

What elevation?

Looking at my map. A would guess around 9000 feet they were up there! Stuck out like a sore thumb on the peak

 

[Gnomepunter]

Thank you all for the help. I didnt realize they would stay up high in so much snow. Now time to go fill this tag!