Elk Hunting - Best part of the season?

mmattockx

mmattockx

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
106   0   0
Location
Done with sheeple
I have a possible opportunity to go elk hunting north of Grande Prairie next season. In the WMU's I am looking at the season runs mid-September to late January, split into 3 segments. Last year they ran Sept. 17-Oct. 31, Nov. 1 to Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 to Jan. 20. I can only apply for a tag in one of the segments, not all 3. All tags are antlerless only. Is one of these parts of the season better than the others? Why? Any other considerations related to which part of the season I should apply for?


Thanks,
Mark
 
I would pick the middle season or the last season for cow elk. By mid November the elk are grouping up in larger numbers, hitting areas of high feed.

I like the middle season as if I see a decent whitetail (185"+) or mulie (190"+) while out hunting for a cow elk, its going down!!! Then when the hunting season is over at end of Noember for most game, you can still hunt cow elk till Dec.20th
 
We hunt 359 in November and have seen lots of animals. Snow can be deep but as MP said the elk are grouping. Depends on whether you're keen on calling or not as to which season you want. The late season can be brutally cold, I like the last 10 days of November personally also gives you a chance at some big mulies if you're drawn.
 
I'd tend to go for the early or mid season. Unless you have private land access to an alfalfa field or hay stack, it can be tough to get them in the late season... plus there's a potential logistic wrench of snow & extreme cold to deal with the longer you wait
 
Mighty Peace said:
I would pick the middle season or the last season for cow elk. By mid November the elk are grouping up in larger numbers, hitting areas of high feed.

I like the middle season as if I see a decent whitetail (185"+) or mulie (190"+) while out hunting for a cow elk, its going down!!! Then when the hunting season is over at end of Noember for most game, you can still hunt cow elk till Dec.20th
Click to expand...

I was thinking the mid or late season to extend our hunting beyond November, sounds like how you are doing it as well.


Big Game said:
We hunt 359 in November and have seen lots of animals. Snow can be deep but as MP said the elk are grouping. Depends on whether you're keen on calling or not as to which season you want. The late season can be brutally cold, I like the last 10 days of November personally also gives you a chance at some big mulies if you're drawn.
Click to expand...

359 is one of the wmu's I am looking at. It is an invitation from a local farmer near Rycroft, but I don't have directions to his place yet. Could be 358, 359 or 522 depending.


badgreenbird said:
I'd tend to go for the early or mid season. Unless you have private land access to an alfalfa field or hay stack, it can be tough to get them in the late season... plus there's a potential logistic wrench of snow & extreme cold to deal with the longer you wait
Click to expand...

It is private land, but I don't have details yet on how much and how good access is for vehicles. Weather is one thing I hadn't worried too much about, but the odds of it being poor get worse as the season wears on.


Thanks to all for the replies so far,
Mark
 
Some good points have been mentioned. The mid and late seasons can be good b/c elk are typically herded up. The downside to that is if you cannot gain access to the land they are using. Often times they will be glued down to just a handful of quarter sections (where the highest quality/easily accessible food is) for a number of days at a time (common in agricultural areas...ie/ Peace/Smoky region). Something else that can be a downside is packing out an elk in very cold temps and deep snow....personally I think it builds character but if that's not your thing bring a snowmobile and a calf sled and make sure they go down in a field.

Early season can be quite productive as well...elk are in a bit looser groups and spread out quite a bit more. Running into singles and pairs outside of a "core" area is more likely during this time....all in all...there's never really a bad time to hunt antlerless elk...it's just different through-out the seasons...

Take a summer trip to the area you have in mind, buy a county map and start contacting landowners in "elky" looking country....use whatever resources you can ie/ ag. fieldman from the county, local F&W officer, bios, etc.

Have fun.
 
I would go early or middle season, In the early part of the early season the bulls have the cows grouped up into their harems and calling produces good results.

In the late part of the middle season the elk are just starting to become pests and get into the balestacks, this time of year many farmers want elk taken to reduce damage to feed stock.

By late season the snow can get deep, elk have just been heavily targeted to get them away from feed, and they can get pretty spread out and skittish, as in they may come to fields at night and hide like the devil during the day.
 
Real potential in the late season hunts, in agricultural areas. Times are tough and elk love farmers hay stacks.:)

Grizz
 
the first few post were right on it
we have a elk hunting cabin in the rockies and i spent 2 months there last year
all of sept and most oct
largest veiwing of elk aug to sept 15 and then even better oct 10 to 20
play the moons and take the lead cow you know who she is .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom