Home › Hunting

Rocky Mountain Elk Facts

Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk are hunted by archery hunters beginning in September. The elk are popular with hunters because of their size and the challenge of hunting in high altitudes. Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) are members of the deer family, Cervidae, which includes moose, elk, caribou and deer.

Learn More

Latest Elk Tips

Warm Weather Elk

When the weather’s warm, elk feed more at night and bed down for most of the day. This means hunting is normally difficult during a warm period, but there are some tricks you might try to get up close and personal with a big bull.

Outfitter Tips for Elk

Elk numbers are higher now in North America than ever before in modern history. This is a great time to book an elk hunt, but if you’re planning to go, advanced planning is an asset for a successful trip.

Weathering Elk

Early October is something of a transition time for elk and elk hunters. The weather can be mild – sometimes too warm – or it can be cold and snowy when an early winter storm moves in.

Calling All Elk

To call in a bull elk, you’ve got to not be shy, says veteran elk guide Al Morris. He says many hunters are too tentative with their call. They don’t call enough. This veteran caller says you’ve got to send a bull an invitation if you want him to come to the party.

Sore Buns Elk Hunt

If you're not used to riding horseback, and then travel to a western state for a high country elk hunt, then you are in for a sore surprise.

Go Late For Bull Elk

Want a chance at a giant bull elk? Well, here are two suggestions from the experts. First, plan to hunt the late season. Next, start applying for tags soon as possible (summer), and expect to get one a few years down the road.

Big Fires and Why

It seems like in late summer and early fall, someplace is always on fire. There are forest fires in the western mountains, in California, Florida and many other states. Fires are constantly in the news. So what's causing this? Are we having more fires today than we did 10 or 20 years ago?

Still Hunting Whitetails

Still-hunting is a method of hunting where you walk and look for game. If you’re doing it right, you’re stopping and looking more and walking less. Whitetail deer expert Larry Weishuhn says he used to be a fast-walker, and it took back surgery to slow him down to the point where he was still-hunting correctly.

Long Range Elk

If you're going west to hunt big game this year, you need to be capable of making a long shot, say 300 yards or more. Outdoor writer Jim Zumbo says it's not uncommon to get a shot this far at a bull elk or a buck mule deer. Most rifles are capable of performing well at this distance, but Zumbo says many hunters are not.

DIY Elk Hunt

Western elk are thriving. Herds of these animals are expanding in many states, and there’s more hunting opportunity now than ever before.

Late Season Elk

Elk seasons peak by November in the West, and in some states, hunting is allowed right on into January. But hunting in the later season is different, says longtime elk guide Chad Shearer of Montana.

Work Out Elk

So you’ve got an elk hunt planned for this fall, and you’re getting everything ready. Are you getting yourself ready? Elk guide Al Morris says being in good physical shape is one of the most important things any hunter can do to prepare for a western high country hunt.

Do Your Homework for Elk

If you want to take a big, bull elk, you can't have too much information. Just because bull elk are large doesn't make them easy to find.

Scouting For Elk

How many days in the woods do you actually need to have in the woods, prior to the hunt, before you're comfortable with an area? Some hunters may answer that question with a double digit number, but most savvy hunters know that quality beats quantity in most scouting situations. For example, hunters who do their homework prior to the scouting trip will already have a good idea about where the water sources, food sources, and sheltered dark timber areas lie before they ever step foot on the ground in their areas. They will get this information through topographical maps and aerial and satellite images that are available through bookstores and on-line resources.

Rocky Mountain Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) are members of the deer family, Cervidae, which includes moose, elk, caribou and deer. In North America, elk are also called wapiti which is the Shawnee name for the animal and means "white rump."