Brings up a great topic of knowing your limitations. We just had a court case in our country were a guy hiked 7miles into the wilderness. Killed a bull and didn’t pack it out. Blamed the weather that was coming in and that he thought, he could get an outfitter to pack it out. Shooting elk is not hard. Doing them justice in the pack out is another story
I dree a keating unit Eastern Oregon hunt in 23, I didn't bring any hay for my horse, i bought a bail of grass from a local rancher. I told him i was elk hinting the heating unit.... He told me..." if I had a Keating bull tag in my pocket I go up and place a b and c". Without that ranchers help I never would have filled my tag.
analysis paralysis - I get this whitetail hunting in Iowa :D Same when I head west too. However after a few trips now I feel like I have surveyed the aerial enough to be able to head in directions I need to boots on the ground scout and cut out over analyzing every sq acre. Appreciate your videos Cliff. Hope you're enjoying the sun down south. Bring some warm back north man!
I don’t live in Colorado but recently got in touch with my sister’s neighbor in Denver who has hunted the areas my group of friends have been thinking about going to. He gave me some insider information this weekend, then Cliff comes out and puts the damn place in this video lol. Thanks a lot Cliff.
Ha! Well any of that is just coincidence… to show most the concepts I just randomly picked an area that I could show it in. Anybody looking at this video for locations might find a great spot or a horrible one… ha! Good luck this Fall!
@@CliffGray I personally think it’s a good coincidence. Like the universe sending a sign that it will be a good spot. Love the videos and really appreciate what you’re doing. Keep it up!
I live in Craig and hunt a lot of these units. I didn’t grow up here though so I’ve had to go through the growing pains of learning the elk habits, hunter habits, logistics in bad weather etc. it’s worth the work and pain every time
Thanks Cliff, Highly appreciated, I guess finding information through people works for every hunt. I had similar conversation during dear season and a nice old guy pointed me to the jackpot of dear habitat, now it’s my first go to area.
for sure! it works. Sometimes I feel like the availability of e-scouting and mapping software has caused us to discount real world due diligence via talking to folks.
Inhave a 3rd rifle hunt late October in Norther New Mexico. Hoping this video will help me find elk after the pressure of archery, muzzleloader, and 2 rifle hunts. My first elk tag and hoping i can bring home some meat and memories
thanks man. such great information. all these guys worrying about showing roads and creeks need to find something else to worrying about. you're taking an area you don't hunt and just give examples. not like you are giving exact spots,
My Coastal Oregon small business has me in contact with lots of old timers who are willing to talk about the old days. This is my first season here looking into the tips and roads I have been told about. Scouting starts as soon as my schedule opens up just a little.
I’m usually hunting closer to the PCT trail first season rifle. The coast is a very difficult hunt because of the thick Forest. I would love to see how Cliff would hunt our terrain for clients as you can consider yourself lucky if you can see 1/2 square miles of land (and not tree tops) lol. By second season rifle most elk are on refuge or private knowing they are safe so I strongly suggest only doing coastal first season. Find a large draw with some water at the bottom with an adjacent logged area. Start hiking to the bottom and the elk trails will be visible to follow but unfortunately glassing only works when you watch the same clear cut several days or get lucky. When I mention two logged portions next to each other, you want to hike down a recently logged portion to get 2/3rds down and be able to glass across to the 4-8 year old logged portion. They run the line between the two and parallel creeks. Blackberry bushes and poison ivy/oak will be 12’+ tall so find the elk trails and let the land guide you
I personally gave up on it. All the elk I saw were a brown blurr through the small openings plus I don’t have the patience to sit 100’ above a heavily used elk trail for a whole week lol. I have to keep moving for my adhd haha
@@joshsmith3650I hunt the cascades as well. Its a rough hunt. Low elk density makes them hard to find. I've hunted the cascades on and off for 20 years with no success and I'm still trying to figure out how to find them consistently. I keep hunting there because I love to get out and hunt but its more like hiking with a rifle. You've got to change the way you think about it. For me, I love being out and seeing all kinds of different things in the forest and I really don't expect to see anything let alone get something. It's a hard way to break kids in on. Kinda bums me out because I don't want them to lose interest.
Man. I knew you were going to show one of my spots at the start of this video. I can't believe it. But it is tough hunting, tons of deadfall, and I never killed anything in there😉
Some of us that spent a lifetime learning this stuff wish that all the secrets that they have learned weren’t shared. I think you should have to go out and figure it out.
Haha I’m kinda laughing at the whole, “just go ask some old hunter where he hunted” line of scouting tactics, but if it works even one time to bag a bull, I’m down to try it!
Hey, you showed my unit. I know it has great hunting of elk (you showed RMEF areas off hwy 9), but as an amateur (about to go on my 2nd hunt), i still feel lost. I can find fresh sign, including smell, but i never see them. I should probably hire a guide.
if you are finding smoking fresh sign - figure out spots to glass back into the sign. Watch the next video in this series when it comes out. I cover this idea. thanks
I've gotten one bull, and it was in a new area with about 2 hours or less boots on the ground at a spot someone Mentioned at the range. Changed up from an area i had seen a bull 2 years in a row, including that year, but was ghosted and little other sign. They rattled off like 4 general areas in the unit.
Just think how many people might be in that area and then look how many more acres that opens up, there’s a lot of land out there in that area more than I care to drive in a day 🤷🏼♂️
Hey cliff just curious on unit 24 for the flat tops, on the big game brochure it says that unit is private land only. Can you hunt with an OTC tag without going onto private land there??
cliff I met your brother a while ago and I Told him we were going to Colorado hunting and he mentioned you. And I told him I watched you on RU-vid all the time. Are you still in town
I was fortunate to have a mentor the first couple years I hunted pressured elk in CO. When I stopped hunting with him, I had to start over in a new area, because I gave him my word not to hunt his spots without him. That’s when it really sunk in just how predictable pressured elk tend to be, especially bulls. It isn’t easy, but it is simple. Most people don’t kill bulls because most people aren’t willing to suffer. And I’m not talking about going in 5-10 miles. I kill most of my bulls within a mile and a half of where I park, and off well-known and well-marked trailheads.
