Virtual Elk Hunt

Muzzle Loader Season Begins!

September 12-20

ML season couldn’t have started better with precipitation in the forecast nearly every day and cooler temperatures. Opening morning may have been the best part of the day. Elk tend to be more active before a storm. It doesn’t take a significant change in temperature or precipitation to get the elk moving in advance of a change in weather. Keep that in mind. Weather plays one of the biggest roles and is always the biggest variable in any hunt.

The elk are bugling and are getting more eager each week. Though the weather on and around Labor Day was warm this week’s forecast is a nice change. The nights are dark as the new moon approaches. The best days of ML season should fall on Thursday through Saturday morning before the weekenders arrive.

I joined friends at an undisclosed location for their ML season opener. I noticed several new scrapes on our walk in. It was a wonderful hike with new snow on the ground. Maybe an inch of very wet snow, sleet and hail fell. The lightening was pretty intense before we arrived. This snow isn’t a lot and the elk are largely unaffected by it. In fact they enjoy the much cooler weather compared to last week. However, the fog was thick. I’m not sure what elk do when it is this foggy. Maybe it doesn’t affect them at all. I do know the air was still and visibility was maybe 20-30 yards at most. Walking was quiet in the slushy snow.

This area is very lush.

Nice meadow.

Nice pond.

Game trail unused.

Bigger meadow and a great place to find elk, deer and moose if the time is right.

The fog descends around us.

Aspen trees area changing fast. Plan your photo safari now. The changing of the aspen leaves doesn’t last very long.

We passed several nice tree scrapes on our hike in. That’s always a good sign. But they have to be fresh. This type of tree elk will scrape for two reasons. One to darken their antlers and scrape off the velvet. And the other reason is to mark their territory like you see in this photo. Elk will leave their scent on a tree scrape like this. This scrape is a bit older but a history of tree scrapes means there is a bull in the area marking his territory.

Here is a fresh scrape just off the trail. Elk often scrape just off hiking or horse trails. This type of scrape is usually a sign of more aggressive rutting behavior. Elk can destroy a young pine if they get wound up and carried away.

Our visit was short this weekend. We didn’t see or hear anything. The weather had a lot to do with it. Though, my friend called in a bull on Friday night not far from camp. The younger bulls are much more active, vocal and curious this time of year. Expect more mature bulls to sneak in quietly.

Thanks for reading.