injunjon Report post Posted April 9, 2014 I'm a first time elk hunter and got drawn for a late season Unit 23 hunt this year. I grew up in Kentucky whitetail hunting but it's a completely different ballgame back home. There we generally have to keep the deer out of our fruit trees and backyard, but here I've barely seen enough to constitute a small herd! Does anyone have any pointers on how to start scouting this huge area and what kind of preparations I need to start looking into well before season. I'm a student so guides are probably a no go because of funding, and I'm a subsistence hunter as well so kind of defeats the purpose if I pay a few thousand to get the meat. I've never done this type of pack in hunting before and it looks like I'll probably be back country camping for the short season since I live in Tucson and commuting is just stupid at that range. Any and all pointers are appreciated! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AverageJoe Report post Posted April 9, 2014 Elk everywhere in the unit. You can road bomb with half the hunters or sit on a hilltop and glass with the other half. Either way you will see elk. If it is the archery hunt success is very low. Dont expect to get one on your first hunt ever. It can be done but hard. Stay away from the crowds. Valentine canyon is like walmart on opening weekend. Dumbasses everywhere. Good luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daverp Report post Posted April 9, 2014 I'm a first time elk hunter and got drawn for a late season Unit 23 hunt this year. I grew up in Kentucky whitetail hunting but it's a completely different ballgame back home. There we generally have to keep the deer out of our fruit trees and backyard, but here I've barely seen enough to constitute a small herd! Does anyone have any pointers on how to start scouting this huge area and what kind of preparations I need to start looking into well before season. I'm a student so guides are probably a no go because of funding, and I'm a subsistence hunter as well so kind of defeats the purpose if I pay a few thousand to get the meat. I've never done this type of pack in hunting before and it looks like I'll probably be back country camping for the short season since I live in Tucson and commuting is just stupid at that range. Any and all pointers are appreciated! Get topo maps of the area. Start looking for bits of high ground away from the roads. Get some elevation and glass. Once you spot something, plan your stalk. I like to look for high ground that others miss (not easy to do). You don't need a lot of elevation, but enough to get you to see into the junipers, little draws, and open areas. Look for areas like this on the topo maps, mark off a dozen or so of them, then get out there during scouting and go to them. Chances are you'll come up with a couple spots you'd really like to hunt. If not, get back home, and repeat the process for your next scout trip. If you've got areas you can glass from in your unit, I'd forget the mid day still hunting of the bedding areas. I've watched guys still hunting through prime areas, and there wasn't an elk within a mile of them on that particular day. I prefer to get a good vantage point, and be ready when the guys still hunting the bedding areas kick elk out towards me. Happens every single season I hunt elk. Some of my best opportunities during a rifle elk hunt were being in a good "spot and shoot" spot from 11 am to 3 pm, as big bulls were being pushed out of their beds and fled to other areas. Forget hunting water. Too many people do, and so many that don't want to drive up to it and look for tracks. I can't think of a truly great spot I have that isn't at least a mile from water. You may think you've found an out of the way "secret tank", but I guarantee that 20 other guys have found that "secret tank" as well. As long as there is water within a couple miles of where I hunt, I don't worry about it. Find your prime spots during early season scouting, settle on a few of them, and hit those every morning and evening for the week before the hunt. If you see elk, you're good. If not, make adjustments and look at other spots you've scouted. By opening morning you should be in a spot you've seen elk at the week before. Late rifle bull is a spot and stalk and spot and shoot game. And for the most part, you won't be spotting them at water (they've already left if it's morning, and aren't usually close if it's evening). Get your butt up at 4 am, and get to the spot you want to glass well before first light. In the evening, do not leave until after last shooting light. You'll need to get used to walking in the dark. Get a headlamp. Get good 10x binoculars and a good packable tripod to put them on. Then use them. Take a class on how to glass if you are not sure. Some guys offer them up from time to time. If you can't afford really good binos, look at the Nikon Monarchs. Reasonably priced, and I glassed up a ton of animals with those before I got better glass. If you go cheap, you're going to feel like the binos are trying to suck the eyes out of your head after a couple hours glassing. Eye strain is not a good thing. I spend minimum 6 hours a day with my face glued to the binos when scouting or hunting. After a week, you'll wish to heck you got decent glass. If you make it 2 weeks with crappy glass, you'll never repeat the mistake again. Get good boots. You're going to put a lot of miles on them. Then waterproof them the right way (beeswax...the real stuff bought in block form, not the stuff in the tube that says it has beeswax in it). It may not rain or snow, but if it does, and your feet get wet walking to and from your glassing locations, they're gonna get damned cold. Find out what works for you for cold weather. It gets dang cold sitting on top of a hill in the wind, exposed, after you've been sitting still for a couple hours. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector777 Report post Posted April 9, 2014 Haha starting scouting 7 months before the hunt starts? That's dedication. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
injunjon Report post Posted April 9, 2014 Haha I'l probably start going up on weekends to get the lay of the land soon. I'm heading back to Kentucky for a month or two this summer when it's a bazillion degrees out here. Blacksmithing in the summer here sucks! Thanks for the info guys. I've heard the late rifle season in 23 is good, so in other words popular. I'm probably going to try to "get lost" somewhere a ways off the road and away from the crowd. AverageJoe, if you go into the hunt not expecting to get one, how will you get one? Think positive man! haha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ8 Report post Posted April 9, 2014 Great info from daverp! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmbbulldog Report post Posted April 9, 2014 Good advice so far. Spend some time on google earth. You can find glassing points away from roads. On google earth, you can do a 360 view from any location to see what the 360 view looks like. It takes some playing with to get used to, but well worth the time spent. Much easier to find those places today in the comfort of your home. ONce you have found 4-5 spots, you can take the GPS coordinates right from GOogle Earth and enter them into a GPS. Then go scouting for a weekend. Go to the 4-5 spots you have found, and see for yourself if they are good glassing points. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shedhunteraz Report post Posted April 9, 2014 I'm a first time elk hunter and got drawn for a late season Unit 23 hunt this year. I grew up in Kentucky whitetail hunting but it's a completely different ballgame back home. There we generally have to keep the deer out of our fruit trees and backyard, but here I've barely seen enough to constitute a small herd! Does anyone have any pointers on how to start scouting this huge area and what kind of preparations I need to start looking into well before season. I'm a student so guides are probably a no go because of funding, and I'm a subsistence hunter as well so kind of defeats the purpose if I pay a few thousand to get the meat. I've never done this type of pack in hunting before and it looks like I'll probably be back country camping for the short season since I live in Tucson and commuting is just stupid at that range. Any and all pointers are appreciated! Rifle or archery? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
n2horns Report post Posted April 9, 2014 If going early time your trips with full pack so you know how long it will take. Scouting is fast when nothing on your back. Hmmm it only took me an hour to get here before now its 2 hours. Plan to get into your spot early. Sheesh aleep there if you have too. Good luck. Il be helping this year again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
injunjon Report post Posted April 9, 2014 I got a general tag for the late season. Nov-Dec. I hunt with both but I'll be definitely using a rifle so I can have a better chance of taking one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shedhunteraz Report post Posted April 9, 2014 Good hunt. Pattern your bulls you want and you should have no issue. Last year the one we watched stayed. Year before watched for 4 months and was gone opening morning. Good luck. Congrats 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
injunjon Report post Posted April 13, 2014 Is anyone else hunting this unit in the late season hunt? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayno945 Report post Posted April 13, 2014 I have the late antlerless tag there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shedhunteraz Report post Posted April 13, 2014 Yep we have 5 tags in here. Good thing its out our back door. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkaholic Report post Posted April 13, 2014 look to spend most of your scouting during late august early sept into Oct as your prime time in the woods. It's the rut the bulls will be bugling - stay up late and drive the roads listening for distant bugles - mark these spots on a map . bulls always follow cows! even after the rut -during your late hunt the bulls will not travel to far from these spots - just look for any hills/ mtns/water holes and find the bedding areas on the n/e slopes bingo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
