What do coast elk do in this weather?

[biederboat]

My son & I hunted most of the day around the Barney Res. & Hagg Lake area on a cow hunt. Not a single fresh sign of elk movement and we covered a lot of clear cuts and roads (we did surprise two people "celebrating" the New Year when they thought they would be all alone!). Do they tend to hunker down during this kind of weather? There was up to a foot of snow & it continued to snow most of the day.

Thanks,
Biederboat

[ 01-01-2004, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: biederboat ]

[24 on/ 48 off]

They do tend to hunker down when it is pretty fierce. Still, sooner or later they gotta feed and (just like Rocky Mtn. elk) will start heading to lower elevations to browse.

--spud-- :smile:

[ORoutdoorsman]

From my experience with elk on the coast range, they will stay in a particular area when the weather is hitting them hard. And once they start moving, they wont wander like deer, they will stay together and go to select places. Often once a storm has passes, you can find them early early morning up and moving, often times around a source of moving water. If you know of a location where they may be hunkering down, look for a creek or stream they might like. You may find elk or fresh elk sign. While this may not be universal, this is my experience around the saddle mountain area. Hope this helps. In addition to that, cows and calves(are young elk refered to as calves)can surprizingly be found grazing open fields not far from roads during the last hours of light, especially if the sky is dark. Sometimes you can have success setting up on an area like this in the evening and waiting.

[ 01-01-2004, 06:18 PM: Message edited by: ORoutdoorsman ]

[Snapset]

Well, a lot of them get shot just below the snow line, but if that is sea level, then they can often be found in the big timber where the snow isn't covering everything.. Of course, if there is trees and branches falling, that will drive them out into the open, besides you wouldn't want to be in the timber if that is happening either. Good Luck, and tell your brother thanks. :smile:

[Rusty]

My experience with elk in bad weather is quite easy to describe.

They simply hunker down in the driest, warmest place they can find and get into a really good book! You know, a warm bed, a good book.... :grin:

Rusty

[ 01-01-2004, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: Rusty ]

[TheRogue]

Funny you should mention this....

I went to Three Rivers yesterday morning, left before the heavy snow started here. I saw 4 different groups of elk. All were out in the open in clear cuts or meadows.

Here's the one pic I got:



I personally believe that they HATE being in the timber when the snow is coming off the trees..it's noisy, and they get splatted on.

TR

[biederboat]

Now that last point does make sense, as well as I tend to believe that they hunker down when it's snowing hard and piling up. Hoping to get out this afternoon and I'm hoping that many snow balls will be falling from the trees if it warms up a bit.

Thanks everyone,
Biederboat

[StinkyFish]

Beiderboat, I just filled my cow tag on wed. These elk were in about 10" of snow and on the edge of a clearing with good access to a small sheltered canyon at about the 700 to 800 ft level. My sugestion is hunt low and follow fresh tracks. these animals are bunched up and not many hunters out there to break them up. Good Luck and Keep us posted

[biederboat]

Well, still no elk. We saw a herd around Stimpson Mill (inaccessible) and on Flyin M Ranch (out of hunt area). There are just no tracks ANYWHERE and we went all around down low and up high (as high as I can get anyway with chains on all 4 of an AWD Aerostar). Heck, you can't hardly get out and hunt having to walk through 2' of snow with 3' drifts. Hardly anyone up there today. Gosh, I like hunting in snow but, right now, I hope it gets 50 deg. and starts raining like all get out (but no flooding please).

Thanks,
Biederboat