Stalking Elk – Elk Hunting Tips and Strategies
This video will be a huge help to elk hunters looking for tips to improve their spot and stalk skills for future elk hunts. It’s painful to …
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February 23, 2026
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"Harmony in Every Heartbeat
This video will be a huge help to elk hunters looking for tips to improve their spot and stalk skills for future elk hunts. It’s painful to …
source
Just use common sense! simplify it… he has alot of knowledge but he complicates it flooding it with all kinds of stuff, elk hunting is not rocket science, if you hunt whitetail it's basically the same system other than possibly the terrain… if you see elk on side of the mountain or hill heading a particularly direction its already giving you information the direction you should approach the situation, keep driving to other side of the canyon or hillside and get out, visualize where they are gonne head to and get there quickest and quietest as possible and intercept them using wind to your advantage and then start the adventure, by now you should already have the plan worked out and execute the plan
Cliff your videos like this are like a great Hollywood movie. you can watch them over and over again every year. Thanks
Thanks for sharing your experience
Excellent video thank you
How high do you set your elevation up on terrain so it looks more realistic?
Thanks for the video, Cliff. More informative than any other out there.
Wouldn't that shot location on the knob towards the elk on the ridge put you in a position of not knowing what's behind the target? Especially if the road passes behind the ridge in the line of fire.
Listen to this crap
That's a rad jacket
This is one of the most useful things I've ever watched.
I have been hunting elk in the Rockies for 8 years. Wind is everything; noise isn’t the worst thing to scare elk. However, whatever your ethical shooting distance is practice, practice, and practice more. If you can shoot 500 yards on practice target; cut that in half for an actual elk on the mountain. Hint: practice out to 600 yards if possible and then cut that in half on actual elk.
Remember, you’re in their habitat, they aren’t in yours. They live in the area you hunt them, not vice versa.
One final note, blowing out elk or even deer for that matter is a hunter that is in too big of a hurry. Patient stalking will pay off in the long run. Many times ive scene this in public land. Other hunters know they are in public land so they aggressively act towards game and then push elk/game out of the area. Be smart, patient, and respectful to all hunters. Yes, hunters make mistakes but do not have the attitude that if you can’t have the game, no one can have the game. That’s a terrible attitude. Hunters want success for all on the mountain. It’s about the experience/journey; not the elk/game necessarily. Cheers!👍🏻😀
Did you stop guiding because hunters changed or you changed?
AMAZING video and I’d love to know what brand his camo wool jacket is!?
Squirrels and crows are my biggest enemies. I swear they're in league with the elk as a hunter warning system.
Got on some elk this morning. Seemed like such an impossible stalk. Had to come to this video after I blew the stalk.
This is Bucky lasek’s hunting doppelgänger
Thanks for sharing the wisdom you have earned on the mountain and all the work you put into your channel. This format with the digi scope/e scouting combo really helped me wrap my mind around making a game plan.
good job kids.
I fell asleep from the get-go.
now I got to watch it again and again.
love you all take care.
Anyone know what wool clothing Cliff is wearing in this video?
Agree with the posts of others – Cliff is a master.
I’ve been looking for a camo flannel jacket like that for a while.. what brand is it?
300 yard and Me watching this as a compound bowhunter lmao
Does anyone say what the costs are expected in a start to finish hunt?
This along with many of your other videos are awesome and have been very valuable to my ability to find elk on my first DIY public ground backpack rifle hunt this past week. THANK YOU! One question though. How do you stalk elk that are on a similar elevation in the middle of 5-6’ tall oak brush and the nearest ridge with open shot is >1000 yds? Any help is much appreciated! I could not figure out how to get through that cover quietly. We sounded like a herd of elephants running away from the circus Gypsies
In 2018 my land all burnt off in a forest fire. It has begun to grow back a lot. Now with the locust brush and the little aspens trees about 6 to 8 feet tall it is like trying to hunt in a jungle with tons of downfall. The deer and elk love it but it is really hard to hunt. The downfall created a serious problem when you try to remove a downed animal.
I've hunted elk all my hunting life. I am not a pro but I've been doing it over 50 years. A few things I can say that are lessons I have learned. One, never sky line yourself. By watching elk I learned they always stay close to trees and brush without walking out in the open if they can help it. Two, if you are hunting a bull don't cow call if the elk are within sight. The cows will come to the call before the bull does and will blow your hunt. Three, noise doesn't make a lot of difference to an elk because they make a lot of noise themselves. Four, if the elk spot you freeze in place. If they can't smell you and you don't seem a threat to them they will go back to grazing. If they are alerted they usually don't run away but with more away unless you totally spook them. Five, it's not necessary to go miles into the back country to find elk. I have found many hunters pass the elk when they are trekking into the back country. Six, I've been told elk will travel for miles if they are spooked and sometimes this is true but not always. I have spoked elk and had them go over a ridge and spend the next two days in the next draw while I was looking for them miles away. Seven, don't get fixated on elk you can see because many times your stalk will be upset by elk you didn't see while you were fixated on the ones you are stalking. When stalking elk always watch behind you. I've been able to harvest large bulls that have detected you scent and are sneaking away behind me. When you're in the mountains it's not so easy to determine wind direction because it swirls. Basically where I live and hunt the wind blows up in the morning and down in the evening. As air warms it rises and as it cools it sinks. When the weather is windy is when all wild animals are more jumpy. They can't depend on the scent direction and the forest is making much more noise. I hope this is helpful and good luck hunting. It took me years before I really was able to be successful most every year. Don't be discouraged if you don't get an elk. Some years I never even saw an elk during season.
I didn’t have a dad or family to take me big game hunting when I was young. My dad was burned when I was a kid and just couldn’t do it, the other male role models I had were no such thing so it’s just not an experience I had. Now that I’m an adult with my own family I’d like to start but it’s a daunting process looking at it from start to finish. Honestly navigating the permit process in Utah has been one of the more challenging tasks…you’d think that would be the easy part but nope.
Anyways, if I ever make it this far I’ll be glad to have my odds go up.