HUnting the elusive Roosevelt in Washington

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Elk hunting becomes infinitely more difficult once the animals know you are there, so I'll do anything to maintain that edge, even if that means passing up stalks when conditions aren't ideal. I also move slow and cautious when actually off the road, this principle is especially relevant at lower elevations that include private ground, since a miscue may send the herd onto adjoining property where you can't hunt them. The sound of barking cows and thundering hoofs is the last thing you want to hear.
Several times every season I end a good hunt before it starts just because the wind isn't cooperating. Wind direction should be the prime consideration during every elk hunt. One old saying that I always remember is that “an elk will hear you three times, see you twice, but only smell you once”
While elk have good eyes and ears, they have great noses, and more than any other North American game animal they rely on their sense of smell to keep them out of trouble. Never mind cover scents and special clothing. The only trick that can reliably keep elk from smelling you is keeping the breeze in your face.
When hunting coastal Washington for Roosevelt elk you will notice that the ground is pretty quiet compared to the high elevation hunts for Rocky Mountain Elk.
Morning dew-fall and low elevation fog from the coast is a huge difference from the arid terrain further inland, creating a soft carpet in the early part of the day, however the afternoon sunshine can dry out the alder and cottonwood leaves, making stealth a challenging proposition.
I tend to spend the early mornings attempting to get into the dark recesses and creek-bottoms that stay shaded.
Early season temperatures might be in the 80’s, but in the shade it is noticeably cooler.
This is where the elk live, imagine having a heavy coat on and trying to stay cool in the summer heat.
That is why Roosevelts seem to keep near water, it is not because of a need to travel to get a drink because water is everywhere, it is because they want to stay cool.
One major disadvantage is the mosquitoes, not only do they annoy us, but they also annoy the elk.
That is often why I find elk on small benches about 2/3 of the way towards the top of small drainages. The elk find where steady breezes keep the bugs away, and provide cooling air.
Bedded down with the wind at their back, and their eyes watching everywhere else it is very difficult to get within range of these alert animals.
This is one reason why during the middle of the day I like to set up a short ways off of these benches with the wind coming towards me, then make subtle (low volume and relaxed) calls for a while before I get too aggressive.
If I can get them curious, they might just come visit.
When they do, they usually try to circle downwind while looking for an elk where the sound is coming from.
The biggest mistake made by inexperienced hunters is calling from a spot where an elk can see where the calls are coming from.
If you can see the elk while it is out of range, it will usually stop and wonder why it does not see anything.
They expect to see another elk, and one that wants to be seen, after all that is the whole point of the call in the first place.
If they don’t see anything, they get nervous.
ALWAYS set up just behind a hill, some brush, or anything else that can conceal an elk and force the approaching animal to be in range when it can see where the calls are coming from, even when you have a partner calling from a good distance back, it is best to set up the same way, it creates close encounters because elk like to have visual confirmation before committing and often will pause, or stop just at these obstacles.
I am more aggressive later in the afternoon and evening, using more bugles to locate and excite, but seem to have more close encounters between 10:00AM and 2:00PM than I do any other time.
Sure I get more responses during early morning and late evening, but these animals are usually on the move and I have to try to catch up to them, I have better luck calling them to me when they are already headed towards me than when they expect me to come to them.
I also like to be slow and quiet, holding off on making any calls until I get someplace that fits my description and I can get set up. I cannot count the number of times I have been caught unprepared because I made a call just to see if I could get a response, and then did!
My being caught in the open, or with the wind wrong, even without my bow in my hand has saved several elk from receiving an arrow from my bow.
Walking too fast and stumbling into a herd, or even a lone animal, is the next most often mistake I have made, the elk don’t have clocks so are never in a hurry, unless they sense danger.
It is better to be slow and see them first than it is to watch them leave an area that you just spent half the day to get to.
In my experience, being slow, watching the wind, and only being aggressive when the situation calls for it will result in more shot opportunities than covering ground and bugling like you see on the T.V. when hunting Roosevelt’s in the Coastal forests of Washington State.

[Kybownut]

Good article

[Captainkirk]

Thanks for sharing!
Like you, I find TV hunts a lot like 'reality TV'...about as 'real' as Gilligan's Island.
Nice to hear from one who's walked the woods for real.