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.

elk5 By then, the rut’s over for the most part, and the big herd bulls have split off by themselves.

“By going in these late season hunts, you’ve got to realize that the rut is over, the bulls have probably split up with the cows. There may be some small bulls hanging out with the cows. The big herd bulls are split off in little bachelor groups and they’re headed to the high country; they have had an exhausting rut and they are hanging out with themselves.”

“I’m not looking for numbers of elk when I’m out in late season,” he says. “I’m looking for lone elk out by themselves and I do a lot of glassing. One tip I do give people when they’re out there by themselves, walking through the woods at that time of the year, is always carry a cow call in your mouth and when you walk, every 100 or 200 yards blow it. That way the elk think it’s another elk coming through the woods. So if you make unnatural sound like breaking a branch or twig, elk are noisy anyway, and I’ve walked into elk that way.”