Finding your Elk Finding That Elk. Information to help you locate your Elk. Elk Hunting Audio Link Elk habitat is composed of food, water, space, arrangement, and cover. Examples of cover are thermal cover, to stay warm and cool, escape cover, near cliffs or saddles, and at the end of drainage's, and loafing or resting cover, found in cool grassy areas. The time of year, time of day, and current weather conditions will dictate in which cover type elk may be found.
Vegetative structure determines where elk can be found throughout the year.
Look for springs in these areas they can be heavy day long use areas by elk. The aspect or direction that a mountain faces will largely determine temperature, snow depth, vegetative type, and during what seasons elk inhabit these areas. In early fall the typical elk migration would involve foraging on an open slope, or new aspen on the southeast face of a ridge. Usually upslope from a watering area used the night before. The elk will feed upward through the drainage reaching the saddle, or basin of the drainage by mid morning.