Where You Find Elk

“Elk are where you find them and nowhere else…”

No matter how many times I read that quote I can’t help but agree with it. I swear elk are on that ridge or in that valley. I go there and see everything BUT elk.

Courtesy of www.moutainlake.com

Elk are seasonal animals here in Colorado. Don’t look for elk at 11,000 during the winter. They aren’t there. Conversely, don’t look for elk down low (winter range a 6-8,000 feet) during the summer. However, if a rancher is growing alfalfa hay down in the valley all summer long you might find elk there at night. Elk along the front range of Colorado’s mountains have been known to graze on alfalfa before each cutting (alfalfa can be harvested up to 5 times a year). That’s your clue. Where is the best forage? Elk will leave the security of high alpine meadows for great food in the valleys below. Not all of them will but some do. Some of the largest bulls will be very solitary. They remain in the darkest, coolest parts of the forest where nobody will bother them. So where you find the best habitat is where you’ll find elk. A lush valley floor may look like the perfect place to us. That same valley may not look perfect to a mature bull elk. Maybe there are too many hikers with dogs traveling in the valleys. Elk need a safe place to live. Too much traffic, either on foot or by vehicle, will make a big bull uncomfortable and he will leave. We’re talking about really big elk here, not the typical bull elk.

The Money Shot I found this perfect 6x6 bull near 11,000 feet in elevation. There were several other bulls like him on this West-facing mountain slope deep in the Colorado Mountains. What made this location better than the wet valley below? Food, shelter, safety and it was really steep! The elk felt safe up there. Had the elk recognized me as a human he would have surely ran off. Elk expect humans to travel the hiking trails. However, if we get off the trails and into their territory then they will spook. We don’t belong there, their instincts tell them, and they will run. This area had geological features we call “shelves.” Shelves are nearly flat areas on the mountain that give the animals a place to bed and observe the area below them. You don’t see them on topographical maps. No, you’ll have to actually go out and find them. Mark these places with your Global Positioning System (GPS) so you can return to them. It’s a great place to sit and wait for elk when they return to these areas in the late morning. Every shelf on this mountain had an elk bed and obvious sign. You could smell and see where they had bedded. They don’t necessarily use the same shelf to bed everyday. Sometimes they bed on a lower shelf, sometimes up higher. Shelves are mostly open and small areas compared to meadows. They will hold trees, aspens, pine, and Douglas fir. At higher elevations like above 10,000 feet you may also find small creeks, seeps, or water holes of melted snow. So you can see why elk like these places. They have food, shelter, safety and comfort in these areas. Everything a big bull needs to live. You will find the most productive shelves are located on Western and North-facing slopes. Elk do travel on East and South-facing slopes but they don’t normally “live” there. The sun will warm East and South-facing slopes too much. You’ll notice the forage in these areas isn’t very green. However, elk will travel through these areas so don’t forget to glass them from up high with a good pair of binoculars. \

Ideal Elk Habitat Elk habitat is the most critical part of finding elk. Some places elk just travel through. Other places on the mountain are where elk live. That’s where you want to be to observe them. This is the mountain where I found that nice 6x6 above. A nice little creek flows year round down this nice aspen valley. Notice how steep the hill is? I’d say the angle was between 35-45 degrees. Walking up this type of hill can wear a human out. Yet the elk can run up this hill. It was very green despite a very dry year in Colorado. I found elk would eat lots of different plants around here. Grass, willow branches, aspen bark, tops of plants, etc. Most of the area around the willows was eaten down to the soil. The elk seem to stay up on this hill and never come all the way down into the valleys. Snow will eventually drive them lower but possibly not until November or December - past hunting season. They will stay up high, dig through snow if necessary, and nibble at anything green. They will concentrate along the creek where the grass is better. Some elk had gone into the nearby valley at night. Evidence was along the trail where a bull had scraped some pine trees. I suspect these were younger bulls. Why? Because the big bulls hadn’t come that far down because of the breeding season. Younger bulls will take more risks until they learn their lessons. They also get pushed away by larger bulls during the rut (September 15-October 15). I don’t know why but the more difficult the terrain for us, the more perfect it seems to be for elk. The truly difficult places, off the beaten path, are where big elk like to live. I’m sure it’s a survival instinct they learn from other elk.