Elk Scouting Workshop

Successfully scouting the area you plan to hunt can make an enormous difference in your success during the hunting season. This workshop focuses on two types of scouting, eScouting and Field Scouting, the latter with boots on the ground. We’ll focus on Colorado as the destination of many elk hunters. All tips and strategies can be applied to other states. The workshop includes mapping the area you plan to hunt with the best access points, strategies for getting into and out of your hunting area without spooking game, avoiding other hunters, and minimizing the distance for packing meat out.

If there is one thing I’ve learned, over and over again, elk will not put up with human scent in the field. Let me clarify, elk will not put up with human scent directly from your body. They don’t care about human urine or feces on the ground. If your human scent drifts into an area of an elk basin where elk are bedded for the day, an entire herd can leave that basin in less than ten minutes. And now they are on edge, almost impossible to get within bow or rifle range for the next few days.

One year, while bowhunting in my favorite area in the Rawah Wilderness of Colorado, I ran into a group of hunters from Minnesota. They hadn’t seen a single elk in more than a week. I found that odd as I was seeing an average of 15 elk per day in the same area. I asked them what they were using to check the wind. One of the hunters dug into the bottom of his pack and showed me his “smoke in a bottle” wind indicator. The price tag was still attached to the top of the bottle. He hadn’t used it yet. Then I pointed to the frayed dental floss hanging off the front limb of my recurve and shared “that” determines where I hunt everyday. I then described how the cold air flows through this valley from sunset to sunrise. We talked about the value of hunting on high pressure versus low pressure days. I shared which areas to completely avoid where elk bed for the day. They were beginning to realize why they hadn’t seen any elk so far on their expensive out of state hunting trip. If you’re not paying attention to the air currents, you’ll spend most of your time educating deer and elk about your presence, you’ll be taking your bow or rifle for a hike, and be eating thin tag soup at the end of the season. Let’s avoid that.

This workshop leverages what I’ve learned since 1974. Many of the tips and strategies are full of common sense but their use is often uncommon in the field. Most of what I’ve learned has been from spending thousands of hours in the field, basically trial and error until I figured it out. But I’ve also benefited from some incredible books as well as time in the field with other hunters.

I’m fortunate to live within a few hours where I hunt elk. This allows me to enjoy boots on the ground scouting without much impact on my work schedule or finances. But for many, especially out of state hunters, it is nearly impossible to spend time in the area they plan to hunt before the season starts. I get it. eScouting will help you learn a tremendous amount about the area you plan to hunt. And if you have the opportunity to physically scout the area, the eScouting will make that time much more efficient and successful. You’ll be substantiating on the ground what you learned through eScouting.

This workshop includes going over the area you plan to hunt while addressing the following eScouting and Field Scouting topics. You’ll receive a detailed map of the area you plan to hunt that includes elk feeding areas, bedding areas, travel routes and your hunting routes.

eScouting for Elk Topics:

• eScouting Tools (Google Earth Pro, Colorado Hunting Atlas, Colorado Wildlife Data)

• Identifying important topographic features using Google Earth Pro

• GaiaGPS or OnX

• Elk concentrations during hunting season

• Understanding air currents (dominant air flow, cold air, thermals, low pressure systems)

• How to avoid other hunters, backpackers and outfitters and why

• Identifying aspen groves and other plant communities

• Identifying elk feeding and bedding areas

• Creating and using waypoints for elk wallows and other features

• Establishing hunting routes with minimal elk disturbance

• Critical orienteering skills

Field Scouting Topics:

• Determining the best access points with minimal human activity

• Substantiating air current information

• Finding water sources

• Locating bedding and feeding areas

• Looking for elk rut activity and other fall activity

• Identifying hunting routes

• Choosing camp sites to minimize elk disturbance

• Backcountry safety - Ten Essentials Plus system

Workshop Cost: $499