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[Painted Horse]

I've hunting this general area for years.
Early in the season the elk will be scattered. Every drainage that has water in it will have a herd bull with his group of cows, untill they get pushed out.. so you will see groups of 6-10. As the hunt progresses, more hunters driving the roads they elk will push farther away from the roads and be in the canyons where there is less pressure. By late October I'll be seeing herds of 100- 400 animals bunched up in these off the beaten path areas.

Most of this area is closed to ATV's except on improved dirt roads. So to get back to where the elk move to, you will have to hike or ride a horse. We usually go in 7 miles from where we park the trucks and set up a base camp. Thats a long hike to be packing an elk out on your back. So come prepared. As suggested in the other post above, You will be hunting off the ridge tops, So anything you shoot will probably be down hill from you. So not only could it be a long hke, it could be uphill. One of my pet peeves is people who walk forever and shoot an elk and then realize they have no way to get it back to their truck.

There are several dirt roads that cris cross from Hiway 6 Spanish Fork Canyon over to US 40 in and around Strawberry. Yes you can get a pickup across these, and usually your trailer. There are lots of places to pull off the dirt roads and park under a tree. If we get some weather, they can become down right nasty roads. There is a lot of clay in some parts and the bog holes and ruts get really nasty. I've driven in on dry roads on Friday and had to buck 2' of snow to get out on Sunday. So if the weather man is forecasting a good storm, I wouldn't get too far off the better gravel roads with your trailer until you become familar with the area.

September and the 1st week or two of October you will see a lot of cattle on grazing permits. Most of the ranchers gather their cows and push them down that 1st and 2nd week of October. I've been stuck behind these cattle drives several times as they walk down the road. It can take a while to get your truck trailer around them. Be patient. . Depending on where the cattle are, will sometimes move the elk. If the ranchers are up their ranch hands, horses and their cow dogs, rounding up and pushing their cows, The elk will be in another canyon. So the elk you spotted while Scouting in August, may be 10 miles away in October.

There are lots of elk in the area, You will see some, Come prepared and have fun.

[MikeandBecky]

Thanks, Paintedhorse,
That was some good information. I appreciate it. Hopefully we will have some luck in Oct.




Painted Horse wrote: I've hunting this general area for years.
Early in the season the elk will be scattered. Every drainage that has water in it will have a herd bull with his group of cows, untill they get pushed out.. so you will see groups of 6-10. As the hunt progresses, more hunters driving the roads they elk will push farther away from the roads and be in the canyons where there is less pressure. By late October I'll be seeing herds of 100- 400 animals bunched up in these off the beaten path areas.

Most of this area is closed to ATV's except on improved dirt roads. So to get back to where the elk move to, you will have to hike or ride a horse. We usually go in 7 miles from where we park the trucks and set up a base camp. Thats a long hike to be packing an elk out on your back. So come prepared. As suggested in the other post above, You will be hunting off the ridge tops, So anything you shoot will probably be down hill from you. So not only could it be a long hke, it could be uphill. One of my pet peeves is people who walk forever and shoot an elk and then realize they have no way to get it back to their truck.

There are several dirt roads that cris cross from Hiway 6 Spanish Fork Canyon over to US 40 in and around Strawberry. Yes you can get a pickup across these, and usually your trailer. There are lots of places to pull off the dirt roads and park under a tree. If we get some weather, they can become down right nasty roads. There is a lot of clay in some parts and the bog holes and ruts get really nasty. I've driven in on dry roads on Friday and had to buck 2' of snow to get out on Sunday. So if the weather man is forecasting a good storm, I wouldn't get too far off the better gravel roads with your trailer until you become familar with the area.

September and the 1st week or two of October you will see a lot of cattle on grazing permits. Most of the ranchers gather their cows and push them down that 1st and 2nd week of October. I've been stuck behind these cattle drives several times as they walk down the road. It can take a while to get your truck trailer around them. Be patient. . Depending on where the cattle are, will sometimes move the elk. If the ranchers are up their ranch hands, horses and their cow dogs, rounding up and pushing their cows, The elk will be in another canyon. So the elk you spotted while Scouting in August, may be 10 miles away in October.

There are lots of elk in the area, You will see some, Come prepared and have fun.

[MikeandBecky]

Hi.
Did you get that buck? Was wondering if youve seen elk lately? I was thinking that with cooler weather ( a little bit, anyways) they might be showing themselves a bit more.


quote="MikeandBecky"]Yeah. I hope we have some luck, too! If nothing else, I will get to know the country a little bit( Haven't hunted this area before. ) Good luck on sticking your buck!



rather_be_huntin wrote: MikeandBecky wrote: Hi, Well we will be making our scouting trip this weekend to Soldier Summit, and a few other areas in the unit as well. Have you heard of any new elk info. for that area? When I get back, I'll let you know what we saw, if you want. Thanks for the help,Mike Mike,I'd love to hear how it goes keep us posted.  I've been out chasing deer with a bow for the last few weeks so I haven't had a chance to find anymore elk, sorry.  Found a nice double drop tine buck though that I'm chasing.  :D  Hope you have some luck finding em! [/quote]

[Painted Horse]

We rode the horse in Wednesday to the area we hunt. Wanted to see what we needed to bring in to set up camp. We found that a flash flood had destroyed the trail in and out of the canyon. It was really tough to get the horses in and should put an end to any ATV's every come back up that canyon. Even though the forest service closed the road to wheeled vehicles in 1983, a few still snuck in.

I had to use the Chain Saw a lot to clear out dead fall, so we weren't trying to be quiet. And we were only in the canyon mid day. So no surprise that we didn't see any animals.

The area must of had one heck of thundershower in August.

[MikeandBecky]

Yeah, that looks like a serious rain storm blew through. That area holds a lot of animals, for sure. I'm not too optimistic though, as I still really dont have a good idea of where I need to be on opening morning. Like I had said a few posts ago, I will be limited ( hamstrung ) a bit, since I don't have horses, and my dad isn't able to hike in very far.. I guess we will have to have a little luck, as I'd rather be lucky, than good when it comes to hunting. I'm really just trying to get my 12 yr. old son( 13 in a few days) and my wife ( we all have cow tags) the chance to fill their first elk tags.



quote="Painted Horse"]We rode the horse in Wednesday to the area we hunt. Wanted to see what we needed to bring in to set up camp. We found that a flash flood had destroyed the trail in and out of the canyon. It was really tough to get the horses in and should put an end to any ATV's every come back up that canyon. Even though the forest service closed the road to wheeled vehicles in 1983, a few still snuck in.

I had to use the Chain Saw a lot to clear out dead fall, so we weren't trying to be quiet. And we were only in the canyon mid day. So no surprise that we didn't see any animals.

The area must of had one heck of thundershower in August.

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