heres my method
I look over all the accessible, areas I am allowed to hunt, in any state I,m interested in hunting, I look over the topo maps, road maps and try to get some feeling for the area, then if it looks good I call the area game department and try to speak to the local biologist and warden,I try to use GOOGLE EARTH to get a basic look at the area, you need to locate the game and food & water sources and recognize the factors that effect game movement.
"good spots" are good spots for a REASON, theres usually topographical features that tend to limit movement in the surrounding area to increase traffic in your area, or ,lower hunting pressure in that area, making it tend to have a higher traffic,as game moves thru, or theres something like food or water that DRAWS the game to, or thru that area.
spots can be good for decades or only for a couple days, due to changing conditions, and game populations. change the area with construction,roads, clear-cuts, recent fires, new food sources etc. and the GOOD SPOTS change,and ELK and at times DEER travel in and cover a huge area, look at it this way, if you were hunting MAIL CARRIERS with a camera,rather than ELK,with a rifle, standing next to a mail box might prove successful but standing in a post office parking lot , at the correct times,would tend to increase your odds of success.
but if the post office closed that would no longer be nearly as productive a spot
I sight all my big game rifles in so you aim at the yellow dot and the bullet impacts cover the red dot
anytime you feel youve become a great shot, try to place two rapid shots in a 2" dot from a rapidly acquired field position, after walking the 100 yards back to your shooting location from the target after a brisk walk in under 10 seconds, from 100 yards
Ive done it occasionally tried it hundreds of times, it takes constant repetition to do well.
related info
viewtopic.php?f=96&t=9394&p=34162&hilit=aspen+mule+deer#p34162
now Ill admit Ive tended to hunt deer as a side show on ELK hunts,and Ive been quite successful with both,white tail and mule deer,but hunting any game is a challenge where locating the game is the hard part not killing game once its located
thats the real difference between your average ELK & MULE DER HUNTER who year after year makes camp in the same area and hunts within a couple miles of that spot year after year ...while many are successful ........the better elk & deer hunters locate and follow the herds DAILY,or spend the time scouting the area and reading topo maps to locate the current high traffic areas, moving with the ELK ,or deer as required.
Ive always said,
think like a wolf, send out scouts, locate the herd,locate the less hunted areas, locate the food, water, and locate the topographical barriers, get your buddies together with a plan and approach the herd or area, from, and cover as many likely escape routes from the area at the same time as you can.
mule deer tend to drift thru areas feeding just as ELK do but in my experience they tend to prefer less dense cover, and a better view when bedding, sage and oak brush rather than conifer and aspen, but theres a good overlap in areas in most canyons
I've spent a great deal of time in this canyon pictured above and similar canyon county
and a great deal of it looks like the picture below , so youll see why shots over 100 yards are rather rare.
these posted pictures above, are rather typical pictures of ELK hunting terrain in my experience,
and while you'll occasionally see elk at longer ranges,
the vast majority will be found in reasonably good cover so shots over 250 yards have in my experience be very rare!
I look over all the accessible, areas I am allowed to hunt, in any state I,m interested in hunting, I look over the topo maps, road maps and try to get some feeling for the area, then if it looks good I call the area game department and try to speak to the local biologist and warden,I try to use GOOGLE EARTH to get a basic look at the area, you need to locate the game and food & water sources and recognize the factors that effect game movement.
"good spots" are good spots for a REASON, theres usually topographical features that tend to limit movement in the surrounding area to increase traffic in your area, or ,lower hunting pressure in that area, making it tend to have a higher traffic,as game moves thru, or theres something like food or water that DRAWS the game to, or thru that area.
spots can be good for decades or only for a couple days, due to changing conditions, and game populations. change the area with construction,roads, clear-cuts, recent fires, new food sources etc. and the GOOD SPOTS change,and ELK and at times DEER travel in and cover a huge area, look at it this way, if you were hunting MAIL CARRIERS with a camera,rather than ELK,with a rifle, standing next to a mail box might prove successful but standing in a post office parking lot , at the correct times,would tend to increase your odds of success.
but if the post office closed that would no longer be nearly as productive a spot
I sight all my big game rifles in so you aim at the yellow dot and the bullet impacts cover the red dot
anytime you feel youve become a great shot, try to place two rapid shots in a 2" dot from a rapidly acquired field position, after walking the 100 yards back to your shooting location from the target after a brisk walk in under 10 seconds, from 100 yards
Ive done it occasionally tried it hundreds of times, it takes constant repetition to do well.
related info
viewtopic.php?f=96&t=9394&p=34162&hilit=aspen+mule+deer#p34162
now Ill admit Ive tended to hunt deer as a side show on ELK hunts,and Ive been quite successful with both,white tail and mule deer,but hunting any game is a challenge where locating the game is the hard part not killing game once its located
thats the real difference between your average ELK & MULE DER HUNTER who year after year makes camp in the same area and hunts within a couple miles of that spot year after year ...while many are successful ........the better elk & deer hunters locate and follow the herds DAILY,or spend the time scouting the area and reading topo maps to locate the current high traffic areas, moving with the ELK ,or deer as required.
Ive always said,
think like a wolf, send out scouts, locate the herd,locate the less hunted areas, locate the food, water, and locate the topographical barriers, get your buddies together with a plan and approach the herd or area, from, and cover as many likely escape routes from the area at the same time as you can.
mule deer tend to drift thru areas feeding just as ELK do but in my experience they tend to prefer less dense cover, and a better view when bedding, sage and oak brush rather than conifer and aspen, but theres a good overlap in areas in most canyons
I've spent a great deal of time in this canyon pictured above and similar canyon county
and a great deal of it looks like the picture below , so youll see why shots over 100 yards are rather rare.
these posted pictures above, are rather typical pictures of ELK hunting terrain in my experience,
and while you'll occasionally see elk at longer ranges,
the vast majority will be found in reasonably good cover so shots over 250 yards have in my experience be very rare!
Last edited by a moderator: