Kentucky Elk hunting....Anybody???

[Skychief]

My friend drew a Kentucky cow tag and I am to go with him on the hunt. He does not know if he will be toting a muzzleloader or a longbow as more information is to be mailed to him soon. Has any of you gone elk hunting in Kentucky? What should we expect? Any particular do's or don'ts to be aware of? Any information is a LOT more than I have at the moment! :hmm:

 

[huntertrapper]

Awesome to hear he aint a modern firearm or bow hunter either but good luck. move slow and use the cover. A/HO!

 

[rkmeyer]

COVER SCENT!!! Have fun you lucky devil! :stir:
Dusty :wink:

 

[jmforge]

Don't do like that hillbilly did last season and shoot what you claim that you thought was an 1100 pound all time world record whitetail buck. True story :grin: There hasn't been much elk hunting in Kentucky so far because the herd is just getting big enough to be hunted more extensively. Some of those bulls are HUGE from what I hear. I have never hunted elk, but i understand that the 1100 pounder would be a true monster anywhere that the elk weren't being fed steroids and the stew that sumo wrestlers eat...lol. They are also starting to wander out of the Daniel Boone National Forest where they were transplanted.

 

[tg]

I have no idea if the Elk in that habitat have different patterns and traits than the ones in the west, most anywhere scouting to find the animals before season is the key unless you have a place that they cross/travel/hang out/ can be found every year.

 

[Skychief]

Thanks for the replies guys. Anybody eles???

 

[KHickam]

There are elk in Kentucky? :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Elk were only re-introduced into Kentucky a few years ago, Skychief. I doubt anyone has had much experience hunting them there.

At the time Kentucky accepted the Elk, my home state of Illinois rejected the idea of introducing elk to the State again, largely because of solid opposition from the Farm community. Making a living farming is tough enough with droughts, low grain prices, and high fuel costs, without introducing another animal that loves to feed on new corn all summer. Kentucky has much less flat wide land suitable to row-crops, than Illinois has. Its has way more forest land than Illinois has.

The few communities around the forests preserves where the Elk have been introduced saw this as a possibility to improve the local economy with the "tourist" dollars spent by hunters who come to the area to hunt the Elk.

Good luck on the Elk hunt. If you can steal several weekends this summer to go down and scout, it will serve you well to have located where the Elk herd is.

 

[tg]

I think there was an article in ML mag a few years ago about Danny Caywood hunting Elk in Kentucky, it is a long shot but one might try asking him for some tips/info.........

 

[jmforge]

That was probably a good idea. The elk seem to be thriving in the areas of the Appalachians where they have been transplanted. I'm not sure how much the elk would like that billiard table flat land in Illinois anyway :thumbsup: The Appalachian chain is one of the few areas left in the East where we essentially haven't changed the land into ideal whitetail habitat. I would think that the border region where Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia come together would be a good place to transplant elk north if you wanted some north of the Ohio.

 

[Mulebrain]

Here is a pretty good little hunt for elk in KY :thumbsup:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxsoGISd5zg[/youtube]

 

[Skychief]

Thanks for the shivers down my spine Mule Brain! Thanks for the video!!!! Looks awesome.

 

[Little Wattsy]

There are two main types of elk...Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain. 1100 lbs IS BIG for Rocky Mountain elk but Rosevelt Elk can and will come in at up to 1200 lbs. Cows are more like 400 to 600 lbs.
1. Make sure you are prepared to penetrate an animal THAT size for an ethical kill. MUCH bigger then a whitetail. You will be fine with your bow or smoke pole but beware of quartering and "longer" shots.
2. Make SURE that you save the ivory whistler teeth...VERY cool trophy out of a cow or bull!
3. Elk are migratory nomads....Usually they have 20 square miles that they wander (I would guess that it helps a heard to NOT over graze a particular area?) any way where they are today and where they are next week will be differant. start scouting early and find a heard or two...follow them as often as possible so that you will know WHERE they will be on opening morning ( you can with stelth "put them to bed" the night before)...
4. Try and know thier exit trails...can be pretty predictable if not spooked and they almost ALWAYS follow the lead cow...watch her and try to take her, she will be one of the biggest cows there, but if not they should be lined up behind her single file untill the bulls bring up the rear.
5. Lastly elk, in steep country, CAN be run to ground...thier lung to weight ratio does NOT favor LONG, HARD runing(I never did it as I was a smoker when I was young enough to do it) but ive seen it done..You got to be IN SHAPE so you decide if you want to try THAT if all else fails...you'll need to be able to track as well cuz they will out run you easily for awhile BUT 10 to 40 animals THAT size do make a track when on the go.

Good luck and we'll be looking for pictures!

 

[jmforge]

IIRC, the elk in Kentucky are of the Rocky Mountain variety.

 

[Dphar]

5. Lastly elk, in steep country, CAN be run to ground...thier lung to weight ratio does NOT favor LONG, HARD runing(I never did it as I was a smoker when I was young enough to do it) but ive seen it done..You got to be IN SHAPE so you decide if you want to try THAT if all else fails...you'll need to be able to track as well cuz they will out run you easily for awhile BUT 10 to 40 animals THAT size do make a track when on the go.

I wish anyone luck trying this.
I cannot imagine anyone doing this where I hunt and its "steep".
If you have mapping software look at 45 23 48 N, 110 12 53 W. I killed a bull at about this spot.
Killed a cow at 45 17 46N, 110 13 53W. Both are miserable steep. I have had them go out the top on me in the second location and up the trail just to the south. If you went back a couple of miles on foot and managed to catch up there is no way to get a dead one back out without a horse(s) unless you have a lot of friends who will work that hard. Its so steep in places you could loose the elk into the creek bottom if dragging it on the snow.

If someone told me he ran down an unwounded elk I would be hard pressed not to laugh at him.
A friend once chased a cow down that had a front leg shot off by a hunter he was guiding, but she rimrocked herself. He was in shape and it was pretty flat country. Took miles even then.

Dan

 

[Little Wattsy]

5. Lastly elk, in steep country, CAN be run to ground...thier lung to weight ratio does NOT favor LONG, HARD runing(I never did it as I was a smoker when I was young enough to do it) but ive seen it done..You got to be IN SHAPE so you decide if you want to try THAT if all else fails...you'll need to be able to track as well cuz they will out run you easily for awhile BUT 10 to 40 animals THAT size do make a track when on the go.

I wish anyone luck trying this.
I cannot imagine anyone doing this where I hunt and its "steep".
If you have mapping software look at 45 23 48 N, 110 12 53 W. I killed a bull at about this spot.
Killed a cow at 45 17 46N, 110 13 53W. Both are miserable steep. I have had them go out the top on me in the second location and up the trail just to the south. If you went back a couple of miles on foot and managed to catch up there is no way to get a dead one back out without a horse(s) unless you have a lot of friends who will work that hard. Its so steep in places you could loose the elk into the creek bottom if dragging it on the snow.

If someone told me he ran down an unwounded elk I would be hard pressed not to laugh at him.
A friend once chased a cow down that had a front leg shot off by a hunter he was guiding, but she rimrocked herself. He was in shape and it was pretty flat country. Took miles even then.

Dan

"If someone told me he ran down an unwounded elk I would be hard pressed not to laugh at him." Not only would it be rude but it would display a leval of ignorance as well; Here where "REAl MEN", aka Loggers, actually trod these hills daily some get in SHAPE.....See some people think that running 5 miles on pavement is "in shape" Some feel like they are "in shape" if they can make it to the fridge with out wheezing. SOME guys who are REALLY "in shape" can actually jog a mile UPHILL (not walk or crawl but jog). Im guessing that, THAT aint YOU. Dont feel bad it aint me either..NEVER was but then I never could run a 40k marathon either. Dont mean that it cant be done. See? Didnt say it was easy but it CAN be done...Ive seen it; at least the take off and the retrival.
Little easier retrieval here in Oregon ( on the coast side of the Cascades) as there are LOTS of logging roads taht allow you to drive relatively close when its time.

 

[KyFlintlock]

I haven't hunted them down there, but have a few friends that live/work down there in elk country. One guys surveys for the coal mines and sees them all the time, mainly in the reclaimed strip mines.

Good luck and take some pics.
Wess

 

[Skychief]

Thanks. If you talk to your buddy, maybe you can ask him where the population seems the densest to him. We are "going in blind", so to speak!

 

5. Lastly elk, in steep country, CAN be run to ground...thier lung to weight ratio does NOT favor LONG, HARD runing(I never did it as I was a smoker when I was young enough to do it) but ive seen it done..You got to be IN SHAPE so you decide if you want to try THAT if all else fails...you'll need to be able to track as well cuz they will out run you easily for awhile BUT 10 to 40 animals THAT size do make a track when on the go.

Really, where do you come up with this stuff? Is it the water you drink with the floating dead cows that makes you think stuff like this? Man, you should really consider buying a filter. :youcrazy: Several years ago, I trailed a herd of cow elk about 12 miles in the mountains one day. I started on them about 10 am and followed sign until about an hour before dark. The whole time we were between 7500 and 8900 feet above sea level. During that time I figure we did over 8000' feet up and 8000' down. The average slope was over 60%. It kicked my tail and I was in mountain shape from a lot of daily off-trail hiking in that country for work, a non-smoker, and 27 years old. Even on flat, open ground it would take a heck of a hungry Tarahumara or Apache to run one down. And if he did run it down, that sucker would taste like a rubber tire with all the lactic acid build up. But hey since were talking fiction here, I'm sure I could come up with a good marinade for a rubber tire. :rotf:

BTW, all the loggers I know don't get far from their skidders and none of them can really put the miles on.

Sean

 

I haven't hunted them down there, but have a few friends that live/work down there in elk country. One guys surveys for the coal mines and sees them all the time, mainly in the reclaimed strip mines.

Good luck and take some pics.
Wess

They'll be in that until they get shot at. Then they'll be in the roughest, densest stuff they can get to. Work the strip mines opening morning or escape routes from the mines. Going in blind is always tough.

Sean