If you watch the youtube videos out there on elk hunting, you will see a lot of hunters glassing mountain ridges that are wide open with some timber patches here and there. However, not all of the western United States looks like that.

There are tons of elk-rich areas, that are covered in thick timber. If you know how to approach these types of areas, you can really open yourself up to a lot more elk hunting opportunities.

To hunt elk in thick timber, you need to have the patience to move extremely slow. By taking a few steps at a time, and then stopping to glass everything within eyesight, you can successfully get within rifle range of an elk. Pair this technique with keeping the wind in your favor and you can have the opportunity to continue hunting even after the early morning prime time.

Location, Location, Location

When you are trying to pick apart exactly where you are going to be hunting the timber-covered mountains in your area, you may want to keep a few things in mind.

Elk generally speaking like to bed on mountains that face the north or east. So this is where you will want to look for them during the day. They like the north and east-facing areas on the mountain because it offers protection from the sun, which helps them keep cool and enjoy some of the thicker vegetation that grows in the shade.

The south-facing side of the mountains is where the elk will most likely be feeding. During the rifle season, feeding will generally take place at night. By this time the elk have heard gunshots from other hunters and felt the pressure of the hunting activity around them, and they feel safer feeding at night.

During the early morning, the elk should hypothetically be moving in between their nighttime feeding areas on the south side of the mountain and moving to their bedding areas on the north-facing side.

Your goal is to try to catch them making this transition. So knowing the terrain will come in handy.

Look for natural paths the elk will take. Is there any heavily walked trails going from the south to the north side of the mountain? Is there a low saddle that the elk will likely take when transitioning from these areas? Locations like these will be prime areas of activity.

So with these elk behaviors in mind, you can get a plan together on where to go, once the early morning hours fade into the afternoon.

Timber tactics

Stalking

In some ways, timber hunting with a rifle brings you back to your primal roots. You really have to get back to what our ancestors did, which is stalking. Your stalking game has to be on point. Timber hunting is a close-quarters game, so you need to keep a few things in mind.

You will have to be sneaky. This means being light on your feet. By this I mean, you need to be conscious of where you are placing your feet. Try and avoid anything that will make noise if possible.

This comes with a caveat.

You will inevitably make noise. This is why you need to go slow. Elk make noise too. So, if you step on a loud branch, or rustle against some thick brush, just take a minute to be still and listen.

Animals rarely move in straight steady lines. They move in short slow movements taking time to listen. So the more you mimic an elk, the less likely any elk in the area are to get spooked.

Slow down

In this close-quarter timber environment, hold close to the saying “slow is smooth and smooth is fast”. One of the biggest mistakes you can make in timber is moving too fast.

Patience is how you make this tactic work for you.

The elk will be nestled in the timber, comfortable, and watching everything around them. So when creeping through the timber, you should take a few steps, get your binos out, and glass everything in sight looking for anything that might be a piece of an elk.

When you are sure there are no elk within sight, then move the far edge of your previously glassed area and glass again. You are trying to see them before they see you, so you have to stay sharp.

Be wind conscious

Because you will be entering into areas that are very thick with trees, when you do stumble on an elk, they will be close. If you ever hope to get this opportunity you need to be conscious of the wind.

Elk rely heavily on their noses to alert them of the dangers near them. There are many instances where elk might see you and give you a couple of seconds of investigation. But if they smell you, they leave the area immediately. So before entering into the timber patch you are going to hunt, you need to check the wind.

Generally speaking, before noon, the wind will be moving up the mountain. This is because the air has been cold all night, and as the sun comes out, the warming air is going to start to rise. So this means you will need to be above suspected elk areas and looking down for them.

Throughout the day this may change based on various factors. That is why you should always carry a wind indicator with you. A wind indicator is just a hand-held bottle containing a light powder, that when squeezed into the air, allows you to see which direction the wind is blowing.

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Stakeout hunting timber

The other way you could hunt timber would be to find a trail that goes through a heavily timbered area, on the north or east-facing side of the mountain, during the early morning, and wait on the trail for some movement.

This would be a great way to use the hunting pressure to your advantage. When those elk are done on the south side of the mountain feeding for the night, they will start to make their way over to the timber on the trail you are staking out. This a good alternative to the stalking approach.

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Hunting Elk In Timber: Tactics To Even The Odds