Post by afp on Nov 3, 2003 22:11:21 GMT -5
I had an incredible time hunting in the SW Oregon Cascades last month. The season was 18-24 Oct. Dad went with me this year. The ridge where I shot my little bull last year was barren of elk this year. We did find them, over on the next ridge. I saw elk the first two days of the season. Dad didn't see them, though he was the one that moved them. The elk stayed in the high country and acted like Blacktail deer. They were very wary, and after the first two days, it was almost impossible to see them or even get them to move. We knew there was a good bull in close proximity. We saw fresh sign each day, you know, big tracks and big droppings squished together. It just had to be a huge bull..........................
The last day of the hunt my dad was walking along a well used game trail. This is a minor miracle, as he typically chooses the most difficult, brush choked, deadfall-laden, areas to walk. Amazingly, he has ZERO problems keeping up with anyone, even at age 68. Anyway, the trail ascended on a small rise and as he got to the other side of said rise, he saw extremely fresh tracks coming toward him on the same trail, saw torn up ground where the animal stopped, turned, and ran off in another direction.
That was typical of the whole hunt. The animals were there, but they were just a little bit better than we were. Early on, dad and I decided the best tactic in this semi-open, often brushy timber was to find a spot where active trails intersected, than sit and wait. Except he'd always get cold after 30-90 minutes and be ready to move. Oh well, old habits die hard I guess. In the area where we are hunting, even the most experienced guys usually only get an animal every three or four years, so I guess I have a couple more years to pay my dues for elk number two.
As is what I have come to expect, very little of the current elk hunting literature seems to apply well to Cascade elk hunting--just as Whitetail techniques we read about all the time don't seem so effective on Cascade Blacktails. I am by no means an experienced elk hunter, but after hunting the Oregon Cascades for 4 seasons now, here is what my guesses are as to the behavior of these elk.
1. They do not need to move large distances to get from food to cover to timber to water. Many times, all this stuff is available in a 1/2 to 3/4 sq mile area. There is usually fresh sign in the timber around meadows.
2. You do need to scout a little ahead of time to find out which ridges/drainages they are in, but once you find them, they'll likely stay there the rest of the week-long season. They seem to prefer to use the sneak and peek tactics of Blacktail Deer vs launching out of the area for the next drainage. The later in the season it is, the more difficult it is to even get them to move. They'd just as soon melt back into the cover.
3. My guess as to their yearly habits. In the Winter, they gather in herds around food sources. I don't think these are huge herds, as the weather isn't usually terribly severe and there is plenty of food. They move down a little as the snows start, usually in Nov. I think they stay in herds through the Spring and Summer, moving into the high meadows and marshes. The bulls begin to separate during the rut. After the rut, all the elk break up into smaller groups consisting of 6-8 animals. I don't know if the big bulls run together after the rut, but I have seen spikes and small bulls with the cows.
4. I think the best way to hunt them is to carefully scout for fresh sign a day or two prior to the season, then find a good spot overlooking heavily used trails, get in there early, and sit and watch. I doubt a person will be very successful and sneaking up on one--at least we weren't.
Realize these are only the half-formed opinions of a novice elk hunter who has harvested all of one small bull--by divine providence more than any skill on my part! Of course, I'll gladly take 'em any way I get 'em........
........
I greatly enjoyed seeing the 5 to 8 foot diameter Doug Firs and Cedars. it was also cool to get the drop on a coyote. He came down the top of a rise in a very cocky manner, until I squeaked at him with my elk call. He then pulled up short, looked at me, and ran away. I won that encounter. I could have shot him. I knew it. He knew it. Lucky for him I wasn't coyote hunting that day.
Blaine
The last day of the hunt my dad was walking along a well used game trail. This is a minor miracle, as he typically chooses the most difficult, brush choked, deadfall-laden, areas to walk. Amazingly, he has ZERO problems keeping up with anyone, even at age 68. Anyway, the trail ascended on a small rise and as he got to the other side of said rise, he saw extremely fresh tracks coming toward him on the same trail, saw torn up ground where the animal stopped, turned, and ran off in another direction.
That was typical of the whole hunt. The animals were there, but they were just a little bit better than we were. Early on, dad and I decided the best tactic in this semi-open, often brushy timber was to find a spot where active trails intersected, than sit and wait. Except he'd always get cold after 30-90 minutes and be ready to move. Oh well, old habits die hard I guess. In the area where we are hunting, even the most experienced guys usually only get an animal every three or four years, so I guess I have a couple more years to pay my dues for elk number two.
As is what I have come to expect, very little of the current elk hunting literature seems to apply well to Cascade elk hunting--just as Whitetail techniques we read about all the time don't seem so effective on Cascade Blacktails. I am by no means an experienced elk hunter, but after hunting the Oregon Cascades for 4 seasons now, here is what my guesses are as to the behavior of these elk.
1. They do not need to move large distances to get from food to cover to timber to water. Many times, all this stuff is available in a 1/2 to 3/4 sq mile area. There is usually fresh sign in the timber around meadows.
2. You do need to scout a little ahead of time to find out which ridges/drainages they are in, but once you find them, they'll likely stay there the rest of the week-long season. They seem to prefer to use the sneak and peek tactics of Blacktail Deer vs launching out of the area for the next drainage. The later in the season it is, the more difficult it is to even get them to move. They'd just as soon melt back into the cover.
3. My guess as to their yearly habits. In the Winter, they gather in herds around food sources. I don't think these are huge herds, as the weather isn't usually terribly severe and there is plenty of food. They move down a little as the snows start, usually in Nov. I think they stay in herds through the Spring and Summer, moving into the high meadows and marshes. The bulls begin to separate during the rut. After the rut, all the elk break up into smaller groups consisting of 6-8 animals. I don't know if the big bulls run together after the rut, but I have seen spikes and small bulls with the cows.
4. I think the best way to hunt them is to carefully scout for fresh sign a day or two prior to the season, then find a good spot overlooking heavily used trails, get in there early, and sit and watch. I doubt a person will be very successful and sneaking up on one--at least we weren't.
Realize these are only the half-formed opinions of a novice elk hunter who has harvested all of one small bull--by divine providence more than any skill on my part! Of course, I'll gladly take 'em any way I get 'em........
........I greatly enjoyed seeing the 5 to 8 foot diameter Doug Firs and Cedars. it was also cool to get the drop on a coyote. He came down the top of a rise in a very cocky manner, until I squeaked at him with my elk call. He then pulled up short, looked at me, and ran away. I won that encounter. I could have shot him. I knew it. He knew it. Lucky for him I wasn't coyote hunting that day.
Blaine
