I do not want your Utah northslope honey hole

[jakedjones]

Me and some buddies from south GA are headed up to north slope for the 1st rifle OTC any bull tag. I know it's been known to be a zoo up the north slope. I just finished 3 days worth of scouting the area and got eyes on cow herds anywhere from 8,500 ft to 11,500 ft. Talked to some locals on the roads. Everyone said that there are elk up down in the area. I've noticed that the northslope is pretty densely wooded. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to hunt this dense forested area? The country seems to have gotten a lot of water this year so I'm not positive that finding a water hole will be a huge advantage. And I know that getting off the roads and away from pressure is obviously important, I guess what I'm asking is if the guys that are familiar with the area are seeming more elk opportunity at the higher elevation during the first rifle or if hunting the state line and playing the boundary game is the better play. Talking with the locals it seems once the elk see the first bit of hunting pressure they ghost and it's a luck game after that. Just curious as to any information anyone may have in the area that we need to take into consideration. We plan on being there for the duration of the 1st rifle hunt.

 

[memtb]

I do not want your Utah northslope honey hole

When I first moved to Wyoming, along with a bunch of other guys relocating up here to start-up a new gas plant! The locals were pretty "tight lipped" about their spots…..one of the new guys said, " I don't want to know where you hunt……just tell me where you park your truck"!

Everybody got a big kick out of that! memtb

 

[jakedjones]

I do not want your Utah northslope honey hole

When I first moved to Wyoming, along with a bunch of other guys relocating up here to start-up a new gas plant! The locals were pretty "tight lipped" about their spots…..one of the new guys said, " I don't want to know where you hunt……just tell me where you park your truck"!

Everybody got a big kick out of that! memtb

I get it, especially if you spend years or hell even generation learning the country. You don't want to just give that away. I used to hunt up around strawberry reservoir with my grandfather. But he's since passed and I have since moved to Georgia. The few days I had scouting last week up there I can definitely tell that the spot and stalk tactics I've used in western Wyoming will be difficult simply because of the dense forest on the north slope.

 

[coldboremiracle]

I hunt up there occasionally, I've found that going into the deep thick stuff and moving extremely slow and quiet (similar to archery hunting tactics) will often get you close to elk.