BEST OF Captain’s Column – Tips on Tracking Elk
By angelamontana

Posted: October 5, 2017

Archery season is leading into rifle season here this month, and tracking elk is obviously important for both seasons if you’re hunting elk and/or helping others track their elk.

The Captain asked Trevor Johnson with Kit’s Tackle in a Captain’s Column article back in 2013 for some tips on tracking elk, and here is some info Johnson suggested:

  • -Always keep the wind in your face.
  • -GO SLOW…PAINFULLY SLOW!! Stop every couple minutes and glass the timber looking for the slightest ear twitch or horn flash. Elk are like ghosts…they just appear. Oh, and did I mention they can crawl down holes also;)
  • -BIGGEST MISTAKE TRACKERS MAKE…FOCUSING ON THE TRACKS THEMSLEVES. You can’t shoot the tracks folks…well I guess you could but I would save that ammo for the animals. This is a guaranteed way to serve yourself track soup and even I used to be guilty of this crime. Forget that the tracks are even there and keep your head up…only glance down often enough to be aware that the tracks are there.
  • -Don’t focus solely on where the tracks are headed. Nine out of ten times elk will double back on you. I have killed way more elk looking up the mountain instead of straight in front of me where the tracks are headed. Elk that know they are being followed will do their best to use wind to their advantage.

There’s a lot more than that, too!

Read all about Trevor Johnson’s tips in this November 2013 Captain’s Column by clicking HERE.

New Podcast!

Riley's Meats - Butte Wild Game Processing