hunted elk, deer,antelope,and bears
fr omground blinds,and rarely have
animalsspookeddueto windingme.
Also,I’mconstantlyamazedat how
muchgroundblindsmufflenoise.The
ground rustling beneath my feet, or
evennoiseslikeanarrowcontactinga
ri ser,seemtogounnoticedby elkand
otheranimals.
Lastly, if you do everything right
andtheelkcomeintoyourambush,
you’reoftenpresentedwitha high-per-
centageshotopportunityat anunsus-
pectingbull.Thatis a hugeadvantage
comparedtotheunpredictablenature
ofcallingina bull.And,of course,you
can dosome callingfrom ablindas
welltofurtheruptheoddsthata bull
will investigateyourlocation.
WHERETOHUNT
Thelistofplacesyoucanseta ground
blindforasuccessfulelk huntis long.
Thebestspotsaredictatedby thingslike
water,foodsources,terrain,andother
variables.I stillhuntelkusingmultiple
methods,butI nevergo onanextended
huntingtripwithouthavingablindin
mytruck,incaseI runinto theright
scenarioto useit.Here’sa closerlookat
eachscenario.
Wallows.I have foundthatwallows
can behit and miss.Findingwallows
inelkcountryis common,especiallyin
areaswithanabundanceof water.After
runningtrailcamerasforyears,it has
become very evidenttome thatmost
wallowactivityis sporadicat best.Even
thoughit lookslikethewaterin thewal-
lowis muddyandthatit’sgettingused
often,thatis notalwaysthecase.How-
ever,theseareascanbe dynamiteif you
can determine they’rebeing used fre-
quently.If youhappentobe inanarea
withlimitedwater,wallowscanbe like
magnetsforbullelkduringtherut,as
wasthecasewiththehuntI describedat
thebeginningof thisarticle.
Water Sources.Althoughbullswill
sometimes splash and roll around on
theedgeof thewater,thesearedifferent
thanwallows.Elkarebiganimals,and
theyrequirelotsof watertolive.They
willhit a watersourceof somesortevery
day.Again,likewallows,watersourcesareeasierto targetin areasthataremore
arid.Pondsandotherwatersourcesare
easytospot,withlargetrailstypically
leadingto themfromseveraldirections.
Afe wyearsago,a friendandI were
huntingmuledeerinthehighcountry
ofwesternWyoming.We wereglassing
fromthespineof a highridgethatgave
usagood viewintotwogreat-looking
basins.Belowus wasa smallpondabout
50 yards long by 75 yards wide. For
several days, we watched herdsof elk
frequent thispondintheevenings.A
coupleyearslater,we wentbacktohunt
thisareawitha coupleof ourbuddies. I
talkedmy friendCaryintothrowingmy
groundblindon oneof themulesforthe
tripin.He washesitantto throwtheex-
tra20 poundsonfortheseven-miletrip
in,butI assuredhimit wouldbe worthit.
Twodayslater,he killedhisfirstarchery
bull—a beautiful5x6—fromthatblind.Wallowsthatlookthiswell-usedarea good
placetosetupa groundblindduringtherut.Thispublic-landbullwasmyfirstelktaken
froma blind.
My friend Cary took his first archery bull
from a waterhole blind in the Wyoming
high country.