Dark Timber Bulls

Part 3

June 2007

When searching for a big bull you really have to spend some time in the dark timber. The ultimate spot to hunt pre or post rut is the dark timber for a huge bull. But one false move or snap of a twig in there and you could be very lonely.

Typically dark timber areas are on north facing slopes but a lot depends on elevation too. I’ve spent time playing cat and mouse with a smart bull at 10,500 feet on an EAST facing slope in dark timber in 2005. He would bugle, I would freak out and head his direction in haste only to find evidence and nothing more. Some east facing slopes at higher elevations do have perfect habitat for a big bull. There were springs, wallows, elk trails, small meadows for feeding and fresh scat. Moss grew heavy on some older trees. It was a picture perfect example of dark timber. You can see such areas on a high quality aerial map. You can see the trees grow so close together that they appear to be smooth patches of dark green on a map. If you toggle to the topographical view of the same area you can see the steepness of the slope and which direction it flows. Some maps will allow you to combine topo lines on an aerial photo map. See www.gmuresearch.com for more on this.

My favorite places to find big bulls include dark timber that are very steep and where you will find benches for bedding. It’s even more perfect when a water source like a spring is nearby. Everything depends on what the terrain allows in your hunting area. Some areas are gentle while others are steep. If a food source is also available nearby in the form of a small meadow then I’ll stay put. I’ll comb the area for fresh sign and all I need to find is that one pile of fresh, green scat to convince me. If I can find a track I can better understand where the bull may have been going and how big he might be.

To qualify dark timber from just an area that is dark you have to consider the trees. Old spruce or firs can grow very tall and thick. Some can be as old as 400 years old. These towering giants provide for some great cover all year. Don’t rule out lodge pole pine as they can grow very close together and block out the sun too. Usually mature trees make up the darkest timber areas. Here are some photos to illustrate:

This is the upper Ethel Creek area in my favorite place – the Troublesome Basin, Colorado. If there is such a thing as heaven on earth – this is it!!! Small meadows give way to dark stands of mature pine around 9,800 feet. The nearby creek kept the temperature down and the large trees kept you in the shade all day long. THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.

There are other types of dark timber. Dark timber comes in different shades. Hardly any light enters and if there are any plants that grow in there they seem to be low-lying bushes of sorts. If you look closely you will see the tan body and the dark chocolate neck of a young 5x5 photographed here in June 2007. He was bedded on a gentle west facing slope with two other young bulls in an area so thick with trees nothing of substance grew beneath the canopy of pine.

It may be hard to see in this photo above but little scrub type bushes grow on the floor of dark timber areas. These areas are covered in deep snow from November through April most years. Grasses won’t grow here. There is nothing the elk eat hear. These are strictly transitory areas or bedding grounds between creek valleys. Elk do travel through here and they are great places to ambush elk if you are hunting a high pressure area. All one needs to do is sit and wait while other hunters push the elk from one valley to the other. Find a game trail, bring a chair, a good book and wait for elk to sneak through.

It’s an important distinction to make that this is where big bulls LIVE and you are just a visitor. They know every tree, every sound, when other animals may be moving through and every scent on the breeze. Almost 100% of the time they will see, hear or smell you first and quietly walk away. You may only ever see their tracks or scat or bedding area. So how do you overcome this? You have to beat them there first. Which could mean marking a spot on your GPS or with trail tape on tree limbs to find the spot in the dark. One strategy is to walk in to the area around 4am and wait until the bull returns in the morning to bed. This can be very time consuming and frankly boring or lonely if he doesn’t show. It also only works best before and after the peak of the rut. Since the rut will certainly make a big bull more mobile it is very unlikely he will return to his solitary loft unless it is early in the hunting season or after the rut is over. If I had to nail down some times for hunting dark timber I would say early September (first 2 weeks) or the last 2 weeks of October through November and December when most hunting seasons conclude.

Big bulls favor places where they can hide. There is a great deal of comfort in dark timber for them. Eleven months of the year a big bull will choose safety and comfort over prime feeding areas and water. He will sacrifice convenience, high quality food for a very small area to live that is safe. He will venture out at night for food and water under the safety of darkness. Because bulls choose this dark environment they often grow moss on their hardened antlers in late summer and early fall. Just like the trees that live in these dark, moist places. It’s not uncommon to find moss on antlers of an old bull. His antlers stained dark from the trees he scrapes when shedding his velvet in his dark room. What a story his antlers tell! Of a bull who hid in the shadows, a virtual penumbra. In fact the word penumbra describes the life of a big bull. Penumbra - a space of partial illumination (as in an eclipse) between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light. Partial shade, partial shadow, the shadow of a shadow.

The larger 6x6 antlers and skull I found (above) were a perfect example of a dark timber bull. Although he died on an open south facing slope during the winter of 2006-2007 his antlers were very dark on the bottom revealing the fact he hardly left the protection of dark timber during the time his antlers hardened in late summer. He died in a very steep valley that I followed until I became rim rocked by a small cliff about 30 feet high. I could see where this bull lived out his last days nibbling on dried grasses under a shallow blanket of snow. I saw where he bedded on a small bench surrounded on three sides by cliff and a steep ravine. This was his cul-de-sac, his dead end street, his last stand against all predators. He knew nothing would attempt an assault on him from the steep slopes – not without being heard first. All he knew before his death was a small few acres of real estate in an upper creek valley where nobody would dare hunt during the late season. That is my point, elk don’t need 1,000 acres they only need one that has food, water and dark timber nearby. When you are out scouting bypass the huge meadows and the easy access areas. Find those nasty hell holes where people avoid in exchange for a hiking or horse trail. Find that fortress on the mountain. That’s where big elk live.