FIND YOUR BULL

Hunting Elk in Unfamiliar Territory

- Jack Ballard

Planning an elk hunt in unfamiliar territory is bewildering to many outdoors-men, whether traveling from Wisconsin for a first crack at a wapiti as a whitetail hunter or starting the Subaru in Boulder, Colorado, on a quest for elk as a confirmed “locavore.” Tens of thousands of acres of habitat are found on public land in the average elk hunting district in the West. How do you even begin choosing a place to hunt?

Knowing what elk needs at various times during the season is the key to success. This entails the ability to “read” habitat in regard to the biological requirements of wapiti in relation to factors such as the ecosystem in which you’re hunting, the forage cycle, motorized vehicle routes and disruption to the routines of elk life by humans. With the ability to read habitat, a hunter can methodically rule out the majority of real estate in a hunting district and focus on the areas that will be most productive.

Food and water, shelter and security have been identified by sociologists as the most basic human needs. The same three elements motivate the activities of elk. Habitat that fails to provide them will be avoided. Areas offering all three in proximity will be “elk magnets.”

Of the members of the deer family, elk are the most eclectic in their diets. Whereas mule deer and whitetails consume mostly browse in the fall (in the absence of agricultural crops) and moose are almost exclusively browsers, elk will readily consume both the twigs of brush and deciduous trees along with grass. Leafy plants known as forbs are an autumn favorite of elk were available – typically becoming scarcer as the season wears on.