GET READY FOR RIFLE ELK

Author and former Northern Rockies hunting guide Dave Anderson’s number rule for pursuing elk is to watch the wind. “Elk spend their lives constantly avoiding predators and humans, so they know how to play the wind game very well,” he writes. (RICK SWART, ODFW)

Tips and tactics for hunting wapiti east of the Cascades this fall.

By Dave Anderson

Whether this is your first fall chasing elk or you’re a seasoned veteran of the elk woods, there are a lot of things that must align in order to notch a tag. Elk are large animals, but luckily for us they are used to hearing a lot of noise in the woods. If you have ever been close to a herd of elk, you may have witnessed the constant chatter back and forth between cows and calves. Or perhaps you have been lucky enough to hear an angry bull bugling his brains out while pushing around cows and chasing off other bulls. Compared to other aspects of nature, the elk woods are not silent by any means.

However, in my opinion, the number one rule when chasing elk is to always be conscious about the wind, regardless of which type of weapon you’re hunting with. If the wind is in your face, you’re in the right place. Elk spend their lives constantly avoiding predators and humans, so they know how to play the wind game very well. In the mornings, when the air is cooler, thermals flow down the mountains. When the sun and daytime temperatures begin to climb, so will the air, moving back up the mountain. Once the evening temps start to cool again, these thermals will drive the air and your scent back downhill.

You always want to be conscious of your wind because an elk can sometimes smell over 600 yards away. There are several external variables that can change how effective their noses are, such as hunting pressure, wind speed, temperature, humidity, type of terrain and human/vehicle activity, but regardless, an elk’s sense of smell is powerful. Therefore, I always have a wind puffer bottle in my bino harness. Whether I am closing in on elk with a rifle or a bow, I am watching my wind every step of the way.