General distances from Car/Trailhead where crowds drop off.

[bullbugle307]

Yep. Gotta be where the people aren't. Oftentimes that means going deep. If a guy's smart though, he can get creative and find the sanctuaries that aren't 7 miles deep. There's a lot more of them than you'd think.

 

[nrpate05]

Like others have said, there is no hard and fast rule. Last year we packed in a few miles and glassed back towards the truck and there were elk a half mile from the campground/parking area, but they were on top of a steep, rocky bluff that never crossed my mind and I'm sure is overlooked by everyone that used that trail. I feel like these areas are worth checking out before just putting your head down and huffing it as many miles as you can. Other hunters and outfitters will be there, try to use them to your advantage. Setup in a place you think bumped elk will travel. That said, I always look for the sweet spot between day hunters and outfitter camps. That distance could vary greatly but is usually pretty easy to figure out where less pressure will be. The outfitters sometimes provide GPS coordinates of their camps on their website and the USFS should be able to provide this as well.

 

[Jerky]

In 2018 I killed a bull in the flat tops. 1st rifle heard a group of around 40 with bugling bulls. Around 1.5 miles from where I parked. No trails, over two hills, over or around downed logs everywhere. The pack out was brutal.

On a trip in the wilderness this summer I also saw over 100 elk around 8 miles from a trailhead. This pack out would be almost all downhill and easier.

 

[cedahm]

Funny enough. Now that i spelled it all out jn terms of miles and vert out loud - all of a sudden i am thinking that it wont be too crowded.

So is general consensus that 5 miles is far enough to leave 80-90% of people behind?
And are horse/mule people not that large in numbers or get spread out more?
thanks

In the Flat Tops, you may be surprised by how many drop camps and horseback folks there are.

my piece of advice, don't put all your eggs in one basket

it's a short season, so realistically it would be hard to hit more than two, but having all of them mapped out and basic mental understanding of where and what i would do there is huge when areas aren't working the way you hoped

This is a big deal. Even if it is just multiple drainages from the same trailhead. You may get into a drainage way back in there and find 3 camps, or worse, no elk sign. Don't get so far in that you can't relocate - especially in a 5 day season.

 

[rustednuts]

Trails and trailheads are for suckers. Trails are the roads in the backcountry. You often better off walking a mile off trail than 5 miles on trail.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

i hear that, and yes one can get lucky and have elk walk just past your car-camp set up and you could take it.
i am looking to increase my chances in every and any way possible. i also dont want to deal with what i saw last year: for the first mile or so, on the opening morning hiking in, there was a guy shining a light at me from behind some tree every 50 yards, just dont want to deal with crowds around me.
if being further away from crowds, allows for less pressure, more elk, and and gives me higher success rate chance, then thats what i'm after.
so while getting lucky a mile is happens every year for some, its not what i'm after.

Luck has nothing to do with what bb307 is suggesting. If miles traveled trips your trigger then have at. Cant imagine how many dozens of elk you are walking passed in that 4-5 mile trip into camp. Or how many hundreds you are driving passed on that drive to the trailhead. You have been given some solid advice on this thread from several people. How many miles to cover before you start hunting isn't one of them.

 

[Gellar]

Is it Marcus or Randy that always says “elk are where you find them.”

 

[Mallardsx2]

If it is almost straight up form the road - 1000 yards
If It is almost straight down from the road - 1000 yards
If it is out a trail- you will not get away from people your entire trip.

People really avoid the hillsides like the plague. Even the people who say they hunt the hillsides avoid them for the most part.

 

[BrokenChicken]

If you want the horse perspective 7-10 miles with a couple steep grades is the sweet spot. Reason being that you can pack a camp in and get back out to the trailhead with 6 head of horses in an 8 hour day. If you are gonna hunt on horseback you have a 6 mile range and you can go out to 10 from camp if it looks good. If you want to get away from the horses go where its dry and steep.

Yep. Got gotta be where the people aren't. Oftentimes that means going deep. If a guy's smart though, he can get creative and find the sanctuaries that aren't 7 miles deep. There's a lot more of them than you'd think.

In 2018 I killed a bull in the flat tops. 1st rifle heard a group of around 40 with bugling bulls. Around 1.5 miles from where I parked. No trails, over two hills, over or around downed logs everywhere. The pack out was brutal.

On a trip in the wilderness this summer I also saw over 100 elk around 8 miles from a trailhead. This pack out would be almost all downhill and easier.

all good points. so to add a bit more.
yes i'd be just as happy to be 1 mile out off the trail and take a bull. and in some of my backup spots that seems to be an option.
my 1st area of focus is in such location that due to road / trail / atv access vs Private land around it, my best bet seems to be setting up camp far in to beat out the day tripping crown and right before the 7mile sweet spot for Horses.

also this area does have trails that run in big loops, so while i might hike in one way, if i'm not seeing anything, i will definitely pick up camp and move into next and next drainage till i find animals. and then simply hike out via different loop. so having good spots to glass from 360* in all directions up to 2 miles out, is what i'm trying to use as my best chance for succeeding.

and if i look back in direction i hiked in from (car area) and see elk, i will just leave my camp and pursue those animals and have an easier pack out. so will most certainly capitalize on 1mile out opportunities if they present themselves, but also want to be able to cover more ground and have different drainage option even at a cost of putting on some miles.
I actually enjoy putting on miles to a certain degree.

anyways, thanks again for all your opinions.

 

[BrokenChicken]

Luck has nothing to do with what bb307 is suggesting. If miles traveled trips your trigger then have at. Cant imagine how many dozens of elk you are walking passed in that 4-5 mile trip into camp. Or how many hundreds you are driving passed on that drive to the trailhead. You have been given some solid advice on this thread from several people. How many miles to cover before you start hunting isn't one of them.

totally agree that much of advice given is great and true. but not all of it was answering a specific questions.
i'm not opposed to hunting a mile from a road/car in thick timber. all of that will be part of my planning/options.

but my #1 focus at the moment is to try and get further away from people. just as much dark/thick timber 5 miles out as there is next to camp,
I was simply trying to get a read on general distances day trippers vs drop camps vs horses.
thanks again.

 

[Dsnow9]

This article pretty much sums up what we have been saying. Ultimately it is us to you and the location your in. Wheee I hunt most years we camp three miles in. Some years we don’t see a sole, some years we have people on the same ridge multiple times a day. Make a plan and adapt to pressure accordingly. Sounds like you have a plan. Do you!

GOHUNT // The Hunting Company

GOHUNT empowers hunters with the tools, technology, gear, and resources they need to get the most out of their time in the field.

www.gohunt.com

 

[2rocky]

One of the things people forget about Outfitter camps is that is has to be accessible in an easy and efficient fashion. You gotta get 100 pound plus tents in and out of there, big stoves, groceries every week, Cooks and camp tenders. Horses and Feed for them. Now they can range out from there for their day hunts, but they aren't going to camp in the middle of a hot spot. They WILL leave camp 2 hours before light to be at the best glassing spot at daylight.

 

[Bob-WY]

I'd say its more of a combination of miles on trail, then off trail, then steep/nastiness.

You can get 1 mile off a trail 1 mile from the truck when it's nasty and you will be all alone. For good reason

 

[Big John]

Lots of variables...

 

[bullbugle307]

Hell, it doesn't even have to be nasty. One of my best archery spots is right off a paved road and the terrain is cake. But you can't park anywhere off the road there so you have to park where you can and backtrack along the road, ducking for cover when you hear a rig coming along so someone doesn't discover your spot.

Meanwhile, the trailhead nearby is packed with rigs and the ratio of elk to hunters in deep is way lower than it right off the road if you know where the elk are.

I don't have anything against going deep, my bull last year was 3.5 miles from the truck. But I learned a lot about finding elk from a guy who kills bulls every year in general areas with low success rates and lots of hunters. He can barely walk, oftentimes he kills elk from a tree stand, and hes never packed out an elk more than a half mile. If I'm not mistaken he's killed at least two over 350 with a bow.

 

[BrokenChicken]

I'd say its more of a combination of miles on trail, then off trail, then steep/nastiness.

You can get 1 mile off a trail 1 mile from the truck when it's nasty and you will be all alone. For good reason

i like this median. go a little ways on trail and then off.
when i say i'm looking at 5 miles out, 3/4 i'd say is well traveled horse trail, but rest is just exploring through open meadows, some aspens and some dark timber. so final camp should put me just far enough off hopefully.
i guess i'll just have to come back and report after 1st rifle if it worked or not.

 

[406dn]

Horses are completely foreign to me. I bet horse hunters look at 15 miles like it's a day hunt. Must be pretty cool.

If you are talking 15 miles in and then back,,,while doable if your horse is in good shape,, that kind of ride is not the way I do it. Normally the ride in for me is anywhere from 1.5 miles to maybe 6. If you can't find elk somewhere in those parameters,,, it isn't a very good area.

 

[beginnerhunter]

If you are talking 15 miles in and then back,,,while doable if your horse is in good shape,, that kind of ride is not the way I do it. Normally the ride in for me is anywhere from 1.5 miles to maybe 6. If you can't find elk somewhere in those parameters,,, it isn't a very good area.

Well I was being a bit hyperbolic. Just remembering how easily folks on horseback blow by me on the trail!

 

[406dn]

Well I was being a bit hyperbolic. Just remembering how easily folks on horseback blow by me on the trail!

Yep, it is pretty easy.

The better part thou,, is the horse does the lion's share of the effort need for getting in deep. An old man like me can hunt for a week straight without running out of steam.

 

[Wildabeest]

I'd say its more of a combination of miles on trail, then off trail, then steep/nastiness.

You can get 1 mile off a trail 1 mile from the truck when it's nasty and you will be all alone. For good reason

My favorite spot in UT is on a ridge. It’s an easy 1.5 mile hike in on an easily accessible trail, and then the trail splits and goes up two separate canyons, each an easy flat trail along creeks. In between is a steep incline up to a ridge with no trail. Most people head up one of those two canyons. I head straight up that incline. It’s 1/4 mile of Hell (just under 800’ of vertical), and then flattens out a bit after that with a few open meadows where lots of game hang out. So I hunt those meadows, and I can also glass a lot of terrain from up there in case I need to go chase them somewhere else. I have trail cams up there year round and can count the number of people I see up there per year on one hand. But I get moose, elk, deer and coyote pics almost daily. It’s only ~2.5 miles in, but I think people get to the fork and see two easy options and one really hard one, and generally pick one of the two easy ones. The faces of the ridge are steep on both sides, so there’s not really a place where one would naturally look up from one of the trails and say “I think I’ll climb up there”. It just looks too gnarly. It literally sucks getting up there, but once on top, it’s a great spot. I’m surprised that other people don’t go there because it’s pretty obvious using any mapping app that it’s got good potential. I really think it’s all about the proverbial choice at the fork in the road. People see 2 options, not 3. I’m glad for it to stay that way