How To Find Elk Bedding Areas

Eastward-Scouting for Elk

Posted by Bridget Noonan on July 02, 2019

E-Scouting for Elk

E-Scouting: Preparing for Your September Elk Season

Whether you're a seasoned elk hunter, or still in the early stages of planning your starting time western hunt, I'm fairly confident the idea of pre-flavor scouting has been made known to you every bit a prerequisite for success in the elk woods, particularly on public land. E-Scouting has rapidly become the become-to method of preseason scouting, mostly due to the sheer simplicity of it. Still, even with its simplicity, productive Eastward-Scouting sessions and relevant intel only happen when you know what to await for. I'thousand going to share some tips I've picked up on and learned from others to make your September elk Eastward-Scouting more productive.

Why E-Scouting is important

There are several reasons to dedicate some of your pre-season preparation fourth dimension to East-Scouting. Mayhap the nearly meaning is factor is that it doesn't require escaping for a weekend and paying for food and gas. We'd all like to spend more time in the forest, but the reality is we are all limited by time and money. Another do good of Due east-scouting is that it turns an expansive chunk of backcountry into manageable sections before you arrive to hunt. If yous've ever ventured into a new hunting expanse with no foreknowledge of the terrain, y'all know how overwhelming information technology is to narrow downward where to go. Having a bird'due south-center view of the land via Google Earth or other mapping programs like OnX maps can be invaluable in differentiating skilful looking elk country from unproductive areas.

What to Look For

For the most office, in that location are three primary locations or "Destination Spots" to expect for when scouting for elk: bedding areas, feeding areas, and water sources. Luckily, all three can exist found pretty easily located using satellite imagery.

Bedding areas: Typically, elk are agile at night, and bed down to rest during the daytime. Areas with lots of cover and cool shade are the preferred bedding zones during the summer and throughout September. Heavily timbered due north-facing slopes are nifty places to look considering they are more often than not the coolest side of the mount and provide adequate cover for resting elk. To narrow down possible bedding areas further, use these 2 tips below.

Use a topo map to notice benches or contour lines on northern slopes farther apart from each other than the other areas on the mountain; all else equal, elk prefer to bed down on flatter ground.

Fundamental in on parts of the slope near 3/4 of the mode to the superlative. Besides beingness the coolest part of the slope, by bedding down toward the top of the mountain, upward midday thermals will allow the elk to smell anything beneath them – giving them a take a chance to escape predators before the predators even know the elk are at that place.

Below is a great instance of a North-Facing slope with heavy timber - perfect for potential bedding areas.

E-Scouting for Elk

Hither is the aforementioned N-Facing slope with contour lines to testify the topography. Notice the waypoints marker relatively apartment areas roughly ¾ the way to the summit.

E-Scouting for Elk

Feeding Areas: Afterward you've found a few possible bedding areas, food sources are the next destination spot to wait for. In my opinion, feeding areas are the easiest feature to find with satellite imagery. Look for meadows, south-facing slopes, avalanche shoots and recent burns in close proximity to the previously found bedding areas. Pretty much whatsoever opening from the timber that allows sunlight to hit the soil has a good gamble to concord the grasses and forbs elk feed on during the summer and fall months.

Key in on burns adjacent to timbered areas where elk are possibly bedding. Areas that have recently burned provide some of the best vegetation available, and the nearby timber gives elk an easy transition from cover to food.

Water Sources: In one case you've found possible bedding and feeding areas, h2o sources are the last on the list to locate and help narrow down a potential hunting expanse. Elk are large animals that need h2o every 24-hour interval with very few exceptions. Look for creeks, lakes, ponds or whatever part of the mountain that looks particularly greener than anywhere else. Those dark-green areas are likely an indicator of a spring that can serve as an acceptable water hole.

Don't rely solely on satellite imagery to observe water sources. In sure cases, topo maps are a amend option considering they can reveal springs, creeks or other water sources that tin't exist seen with regular satellite imagery.

If you find probable bedding, feeding and watering areas, all in close proximity to each other, take note and marker it on your GPS. When heading into the woods, this will be your plan A. Repeat the entire process until yous have plans B, C, D...etc. You now have a solid foundation on where to begin once you actually footstep pes in the elk woods.

Other Features to Continue an eye out for

Travel Corridors: All things equal, elk prefer to take the path of least resistance. This helps pin down likely travel corridors elk will use to go from one spot to another. One of the virtually easily identifiable corridors are saddles or low depressions in betwixt 2 college peaks. These saddles tin can make great ambush spots or places to hang trail cameras. Utilize a Topo map to locate saddles between whatsoever of the iii destination spots - at that place could exist an elk "highway" going through information technology!

Below is a great example of a saddle that could be used to travel between destination spots

E-Scouting for Elk

Wallows: During August and early September, wallows can also be great ambush spots, specifically for bulls. In a nutshell, wallows are simply mud holes bulls roll in (for various reasons). While these mud holes don't always guarantee an run across with an elk, they at to the lowest degree confirm elk have historically used the expanse. Wallows tin can usually be found effectually springs, meadows or in drainages where the slope temporarily flattens out, allowing h2o to pool. While E-Scouting, if you meet brown circular discolorations in otherwise green, grassy areas there'south a possibility you're looking at wallows. Satellite imagery isn't always a reliable method of differentiating wallows from water holes or just blank ground, but it's definitely worth your fourth dimension to mark waypoints on some of these spots to check out in person.

Below is imagery of a wallow I found on a bench near the height of a ridge in Fundamental Idaho

Go Away From Others

Saving the well-nigh of import point for terminal, we need to realize once the hunting flavour starts, elk will congregate in the least pressured areas possible. To account for this, your plans A, B, C...etc need to be in areas other hunters won't go to.

At times, you can attain this by hunting areas miles away from roads or trailheads, which are places the ordinary hunter wouldn't normally be willing to walk to. The problem is, backcountry hunting has really taken off the last several years, leading to an influx of hunters backpacking several miles into the same vicinity, each thinking they're "getting away from other hunters". This isn't ever the example. At times, in that location can be a bespeak of diminishing returns when it comes to hiking further in, especially when you lot might exist able to find unpressured elk closer than you'd recall.

In that location are instances where you tin can find unpressured elk under a mile from the truck. Such places more often than not have ane thing in common; major obstacles that deter the Boilerplate Joe from venturing into . Examples could be river crossings, behemothic skree fields, or 2000ft vertical slopes that eventually lead to completely unpressured areas. The bespeak is, don't be like everyone else and walk miles into the backcountry, thinking that's your only shot at finding elk. Instead, consider looking at areas closer in proximity, only harder to access. These places are often overlooked past the "hardcore" backcountry hunters but are also left lone by truck hunters due to the hard access.

All in all, there are no guarantees in elk hunting or finding good hunting areas through Due east-Scouting. At that place are no rules that state an elk must bed down on a Northward-facing slope ¾ to the meridian, or feed in a recent burn that is full of fresh, delicious grass. At the end of the day, the elk are where y'all observe them, but by putting in some time scanning over your hunting grounds with online mapping programs this summer, your chances of success in the Autumn will surely increase.

Showtime Lite Customer Service Rep Marcus Emerson hails from Hagerman, Idaho.