Spent a great day out hunting elk several days ago. It was unseasonably warm, and a great day to be out. We saw plenty of elk and elk sign, and heard elk bugling through the night. A few days later, my sons went back, to find the first snowfall of the year, knee deep. And elk were scarce. So my question is, what do elk tend to do in that situation?

a) Promptly head for lower elevations
b) Hunker down under the trees for a couple of days, until they can feed again, or
c) Go about business as usual.

Head down the mountain to the benches.

Don

Exactly where were you when you saw the elk?

They probably moved on to more favorable areas. I have observed elk to actually have an increase in activity shortly after a good snow. Tending to stay out later into the day feeding. Perhaps this is because they need extra time to dig through the snow and feed?

I doubt if the snow bothered them but perhaps the pressure did. I hunt in an area where I can predict the location based on the hunting season (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc) The elk will move lower in elevation with each season due to the pressure regardless of the weather. At least that's my experience.

Elk, as a matter of fact, cannot handle snow as well as deer as elk eat grass and deer brouse for the mostpart...In Idaho the elk will move at the first snow but they will stay at the snow line...Go figure, they have heavy hair so they bed in the snow during the day and feed just out of the snow.....

You will find them 100 yds, above snowling during the day in the thick stuff and on the edges in the morning and evening....At least in Idaho and the Northern states...

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

I hunt in Colorado, between 6500 and 9000 ft. A knee deep snow with crust on top, will have them down in two days, from the higher elevations. You can set you clock on it. Good shooting.

Ray has got it. They stay in the blow down and snow during the day, and come around to the snow line in the evenings. I found two beds in stuff so nasty, the elk had bedded down across a fallen lodge-pole log. Comfy! The snow line is more of a North/South line, rather than an elevation line. I was up at 8,000 feet this weekend, and the elk were up there. Hiding in the North face blow-down, and ankle deep crunchy snow. Eating around the South slope edges morning/evening. Just as far away from people as they could get, too. Smart buggers! FWIW, Dutch.

Thanks all, for the answers. My situation is a little different from most, since I never did make the transition from jackrabbits during my teen years to deer and elk later on. I'm 58 and have only been big game hunting for a couple of years. So your collective experience is very helpful.

To answer one question, I'm in Utah, and we were East of Hwy 15, between Payson and Nephi. We were close to the top of the mountain we were on... don't know the elevation.