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10-05-2016, 08:52 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 315
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Stalking elk in wide open spaces?
I've never really hunted elk in my life but decided to get into it a bit this year. I'm glassing 3 bulls but they are bedded out in the open. Is it possible to get in on elk bedded out in the open?
Here's a pic of the terrain if you look close on top of the hill you will see a black spec and that is one of the bulls
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10-05-2016, 08:54 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 414
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Yip. Check you wind, wait until they bed down and let the fun begin. Ditch the boots and wear some silent clothing.
Even if they bust you it's a pile of fun. I miss archery hunting elk on the prairie. Good luck
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10-05-2016, 09:17 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Rycroft
Posts: 21,548
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Yup ... wind in your face ... slow and steady win's the race ... don't believe that elk are invincable ... old wife's tale from people that don't have a clue !!!
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10-05-2016, 09:17 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Central Alberta
Posts: 21,399
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Luckwell
Yip. Check you wind, wait until they bed down and let the fun begin. Ditch the boots and wear some silent clothing.
Even if they bust you it's a pile of fun. I miss archery hunting elk on the prairie. Good luck
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Down on your belly and start crawling, making the best use of the terrain. 
Grizz
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John E. Pfeiffer The Emergence of Man
written in 1969
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10-05-2016, 09:20 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Rycroft
Posts: 21,548
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams
Down on your belly and start crawling, making the best use of the terrain.
Grizz |
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10-05-2016, 09:28 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 315
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Awesome thanks for the replies!
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10-05-2016, 09:42 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,697
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Stalking
If the sun is low in the sky and at your back and in their eyes .....and.....the wind in your favour, you've got an ideal situation.
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10-05-2016, 09:47 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 9,675
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This crown land hunter learned real quick chasing elk around Suffield last Nov how easy they can hide in the open. We would use the terrain to get somewhat close, then do the belly crawl to the top of a hill. Unbelievable how many times my son and I had the wind and everything right, hills for cover and to peek over and see that at least a few cows were already watching you. One group we kept walking around on and sneaking to took 3 hours and many belly crawls only to never get closer than 450 or more yrds away from them.
Smart animals.
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10-05-2016, 10:05 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Southern Alberta
Posts: 1,786
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Watch out for *****ly pear cactus!!! Loves to dig into knees, elbows and other netherregions 
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10-05-2016, 10:07 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Southern Alberta
Posts: 1,786
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Ha! I got censored over a cactus! 
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Common sense is so rare these days, that it should be considered a super power.
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10-05-2016, 03:00 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: central Alberta
Posts: 12,629
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Might sound outdated and funny but If you are bellying up to the elk you could try sneaking up by being behind a cardboard cutout of a grazing pronghorn. The elk might not be as wary. Don't know that it would work but it might.
Or get a cow elk two man costume and get a hunting buddy to be the rear end and just casually walk up to the herd.
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This country was started by voyagers whose young lives were swept away by the currents of the rivers for ten cents a day... just for the vanity of the European's beaver hats. ~ Red Bullets
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It is when you walk alone in nature that you discover your strengths and weaknesses. ~ Red Bullets
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10-05-2016, 04:13 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Leduc
Posts: 1,638
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bullets
Might sound outdated and funny but If you are bellying up to the elk you could try sneaking up by being behind a cardboard cutout of a grazing pronghorn. The elk might not be as wary. Don't know that it would work but it might.
Or get a cow elk two man costume and get a hunting buddy to be the rear end and just casually walk up to the herd. |
And get shot?
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10-05-2016, 04:55 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Phoenix AZ
Posts: 361
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bullets
Or get a cow elk two man costume and get a hunting buddy to be the rear end and just casually walk up to the herd. |
Please do this and video tape the entire thing, possibly from multiple angles. Then post the video up here. If you could pull that off I think you would win the internet.
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10-05-2016, 07:51 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 134
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Forget stealth. Be obvious, and be obvious that you are not a threat. Walk obliquely to the elk never turning towards them. Bend down every so often and pick the grass. Watch the elk and their response out of your periphery. It is easier when they are feeding as they will stop and raise their heads when they see you, but if you present no aggression they will start feeding again. That is when you know you can get close, and I mean bow range close. If anyone of them raises their heads abruptly, stop advancing and walk away a bit, but slowly. The key here is to take your time and always monitor their behaviour.
It's worked for me when I was a bit of a photography nut, but now the only place I see them in the open are at a few local golf courses, which don't really have the best fore or background.
An alternative thought to the aforementioned bellycrawl stealth tactics...
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10-05-2016, 07:53 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: WMU 108
Posts: 6,307
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Wind in your face , walk slow and use terrain to your advantage . Got us into to about 90 yds for a kill on a nice bull this morning .
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10-05-2016, 07:57 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 315
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Well the stalk didn't work out but I did manage to get some video as I got closer
https://vimeo.com/185741767
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10-05-2016, 08:01 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 2,210
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How close were you in the video?
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10-05-2016, 08:22 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 271
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Elk
Cool vid, thanks for sharing.
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10-05-2016, 08:24 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Lake land
Posts: 98
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Having the elk watching your truck from a difrent angle works in the southern zones too if you have a partner
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10-05-2016, 08:30 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Nelson BC
Posts: 2,032
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Tough to stalk elk in the open. I have a camo umbrella with a picture of a cow on it. Useful in archery only season, very dangerous in rifle season.
Read a book once on a guy who claimed you could wait untill the bulls are wrestling with each other then run like crazy staight at them. Never tried it but would love to see some video of anyone trying that.
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10-05-2016, 11:02 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 873
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Nice vid. Was it windy or was that the adrenaline running? Slow and steady constantly checking wind.
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10-06-2016, 06:25 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 315
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I took the video from around 500yrds as I coming over a small hill. It was super windy making the camera shake quite abit but also making it easier for me to move. Felt like I was just doing the usual spot and stalk for Mules. As I was closing in the last 100 yrds they decided to get up and feed away from me so I laid down and watched them walk off. Once they made it out of sight I kicked it into high gear and made it to where I last seen them disappear. Unfortunately they were long gone by the time I crested the hill. I know the area where they ended up so im hoping to find them first thing this am! Man I love bow hunting haha
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10-06-2016, 07:27 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1,177
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Those are the places elk normally reside when they've been pushed around a little. It's worth a shot but if they have been pressured before you likely won't get in past 200 yards.
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10-06-2016, 08:23 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Beaver Mines AB.
Posts: 880
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Years ago I hunted geese with a guy using a plywood cut out horse. It would fold up with a hinge in the center. You never approached them directly but sort of circle in slowly stopping as a horse would to eat. You never believe how close you would get to these smart birds.
Wondering if this would work on elk?
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10-06-2016, 08:45 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 403
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nelsonob1
Read a book once on a guy who claimed you could wait untill the bulls are wrestling with each other then run like crazy staight at them. Never tried it but would love to see some video of anyone trying that.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJBsiNcai5E
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10-06-2016, 08:49 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Look behind you :)
Posts: 27,780
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I have snuck into 35 yards on two fighting rag horns in the open, it was low light and wind in my favor...bit those circumstances are few and far between.
LC
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10-06-2016, 10:36 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 315
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Great start to this am.. Not! Got out real early and made it to the spot I last seen the Bulls. As I'm driving down the road I seen one of them bedded so I get all excited because it's "game on" I get to a place to park set my keys down and get out to put on my jacket.. Upon doing this I someone now managed to hit the lock button on my vehicle and shut then shut the door to my vehicle. Great... Now I'm in the middle of nowhere locked out and phone inside ( Yepp dumb move).. So a long shameful walk to the first farm yard and a phone call home I'm now back at square one.. Going to go for a walk to see what I find
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10-06-2016, 11:12 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Red Deer, Alberta
Posts: 797
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I've seen the hubs get on his belly and do a very slow commando crawl right up to feeding elk, but the bull was hidden amongst the herd feeding with his head down so he couldn't decipher his points
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10-07-2016, 04:11 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 743
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xiph0id
And get shot?
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Lol!!
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10-07-2016, 04:32 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Fox Creek
Posts: 3,315
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I don't know about a herd of elk, but sometimes a lone animal (elk included) doesn't seem to view a person as a threat unless they actually see you walking towards them. Every now and then I have pretty close, in plain sight.
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