PREPARING FOR AN ELK HUNT

Puppe's Tracking Technique

EDITOR'S NOTE: Steve Puppe of Hamilton, Montana, promotions director for Knight Rifles and longtime avid hunter, lives on the edge of the Bitterroot National Forest with its abundant elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer.

Question: How much snow have we had in the Bitterroot Wilderness Area on this November morning?
Answer: Down here in the valley we've gotten about 4-1/2-inches. I took a little walk out by the house this morning and noticed it was going to be a little difficult to walk. So, when we get up to the elevation where we'll be hunting today (around 8,000 feet), I guess we'll have 8 to 10 inches of new snow.

Question: Tell me the technique we'll use this morning.
Answer: With this fresh snow, first we're going to put a set of tire chains on the truck. We're going to take some of these high-mountain roads and either glass some of the other canyons, or look for tracks. We'll determine how old each track is. If it is snowed in, then we'll know it is fairly old. Several tracks mean it is just cows and calves. If we can find a singled-out track or possibly a double track, then we'll decide whether or not we're going to go after it. Hopefully, we'll either catch the animal feeding or laying down in a bed somewhere.

Question: What does finding one elk track mean? What does two elk tracks mean? And, why not follow several tracks?
Answer: A herd usually includes more than five animals. Generally, when you find several tracks, they've been made by cows and calves. We'll look at the size of the tracks as well. The size will definitely tell us whether a bull or cow has made them. The tracks will give us a better idea about whether they've made by a bigger animal. Usually a singled-out big track is a bull. During the late season like this, lots of the bigger herd bulls become loners and are not really with the herds of cows. That's why we're not going to get too carried away if we find a bunch of tracks. Two tracks can be two satellite-type bulls that are going to spend the winter together. I look at those tracks pretty seriously.

Question: In the mountains at 8,000 feet, what kind of roads are we going to be on and how many miles will we cover?
Answer: Well, we're going to hunt on forest-service roads. When we turn off on the main highway to start going up the forest-service road, we may hit a track instantly. We may cover 40 or 50 miles. It's hard to determine because the elk travel a lot. We have some areas we know they frequent. That's where we're going to hit first and hopefully cut our drive time down.

To learn more about Knight Rifles, call (641) 856-2626, write them at Knight Rifles, Customer Service Dept., 21852 Hwy J46, Centerville, IA 52544, or visit their Web site www.knightrifles.com. You can contact Scott Boulanger, a dependable, expert elk guide in this section of Montana by writing him at P.O. Box 733, Darby, Montana, 59289. You can call him at (406) 821-0017, e-mail him at elkhunter@circlekbl.com, or visit his Web site www.circlekbl.com.

TOMORROW: THE ADVANTAGES OF TRUCK HUNTING