A Bull's Place

A Bull’s Place

Bulls like to hang out in certain parts of the forest. When you come across such a place during your hike use your GPS to mark the location. A good GPS is worth its weight in your pack. Most of all it will help you connect the dots as you discover good elk areas over years of hiking the same place. After a while all you’ll have to do is find a comfortable place to sit and wait for the bull to show up. That’s the best way to get close to a big bull. Let him take natural steps in your direction. Just try not to get busted.

Check out this photo. Nearly every tree has been scraped over the years. This are rests on a nice bench on a large North-facing ridge in Northern Colorado. The size of the trees and numbers of trees scraped up is just amazing. Bulls have been known to revisit their favorite scrape every year. But this is amazing. This looks like generations of large bulls have returned here year after year. Bulls will scrape trees to get the velvet off their antlers. Then they will also attack smaller pines in a show of dominance to cows. On these smaller pine trees they will leave their scent too. As if to advertise to other cows that they are available and looking for mates!

A little further up the mountain and I ran into another hot area. If I plan my year right I can be sitting against some tree in the background and watch the bull or bulls come through this area to polish up their antlers. Bulls will visit these places between August and September. Elk normally shed their velvet during mid to late August. I’ve always had good luck spotting bulls scraping trees around the 3^rd weekend in August. Bulls will also return in September to polish up and check their scrape.

Coincidentally, a bull’s winter lair is also close to the mysterious timber buck’s. If you haven’t seen a timber buck in the winter then you’ll be in shock when you do. They are monster mule deer that are hard to find. They sport massive antlers compared to their bodies. While I was photographing a nice group of about five, bachelor bull’s one winter I decided to go up the ridge where they were bedded near the base. I’d hope to circle them from above and get some good pictures. About halfway up the ridge I ran into a small opening. That’s when I noticed movement. I thought they were the bulls. Nope. They were two huge mule deer bucks. And I had to stop and look. Didn’t get a photo of them but they didn’t budge either. They watched every move I made while staying hidden in the thick trees. Come to find out they bedded above the bulls all winter. In deeper snow (2-3 feet) where elk don’t normally bed. Deer are lighter and can afford the energy to walk through deep snow. It was amazing and I’ll never forget it.

Elk visit and live in certain places on the mountain. There is no way around it. To locate these places you have to put in lots of hiking miles. If you walk long enough and far enough you will find elk. Mark down these locations on your GPS and eventually you won’t have to walk around so much!