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 Elk For elk, the 3 major areas I concentrate on are; 1) Quality Forage, Shelter and Water - This is number one; simply put elk are big animals and if you don’t have the food, shelter and water to support them, so simply won’t find them in that area. There needs to be a big supply of quality forage, especially if you’re looking to find a good size herd, ample quantity of quality food for the animal.
Generally during the western elk seasons the weather will be warm, and you can count on the elk looking for somewhere cool, and shady for them to bed up in during the heat of the day. Look for north slopes and heavily-timbered pockets to find these cool conditions. Water is another ingredient that elk need every day, especially bulls due to the fact they are tending their cows, and on the move all day. Even small seeps are a place to find elk sneaking into. 2) Critters of Habit – It seems as though every year the weather might be different, you might be shooting different arrows and wearing different camo but the elk don’t care. They will always be in the same spots, or close by. It’s also a good idea to look for areas like this by the sign; trees with different aged scars from rubs, and rubs that have been rubbed over the season prior. When you have good habitat, elk will return to it. 3) Rutting Remnants- This is very important; you must remember, you don’t care where the elk are now, rather, where they’ll be when you have a valid tag in your pocket. Look for big rubs, both new and old. Look for areas where a bull would feel comfortable wallowing. Elk rut in certain areas and that’s where you need to be come September. 
Pronghorn Here is what I look for, when scouting for goats; 1) Quantity vs. Quality – Here in Oregon, with the pronghorn tag I hunt, it’s very tough to find a quantity of goats. Before you do your scouting, it’s best to do research and find out whether it’s an accomplishment to simply stick a doe, or if you should hold out for a P&Y buck. You then need to factor in your personal standards of what type of animal you’re looking for, and match the two. 2) Water – The obvious answer is to find a good waterhole, however there is more to finding just any waterhole and plopping out your blind. I am quite picky about the waterholes I choose to hunt from because, first, I need to make sure there isn’t any cattle traffic. I have found that if there is a lot of cow traffic the goats are more likely just to by-pass the waterhole and head to the next pothole for water. The next thing is to find a waterhole the goats will come to, and feel comfortable doing so. What is the point if the goats come in spooky, and head on, drink for a few seconds then sprint away, you’ll get no shot. Look for tracks in the fresh mud around the hole, goats are very much, creatures of habit. Pick a “usual” drinking hole for the best blind success. 3) Long Range – It is very important to use your big glass, 12 power and up to a spotting scope to do your pronghorn scouting. Watch from afar. Pattern your buck, and his herd from a vantage point. They are super weary and in an area with few goats and a lot of pressure, ruining your hunt before it starts if a very real possibility. Another quick thought, when you go out in the woods, take your bow, do as much shooting as you can in the terrain you’ll be hunting before it actually counts. Throw on some judo’s and go to work, pine cones, tufts of grass, or even the occasional sage rat. Practice now, makes perfect later. Most of all, when scouting use common sense. If you have a feeling there is bucks there, and you have seen them there, then be smart and try and glass them up rather than going in and kicking a big buck in his bedroom. Know that when you see rub after rub reaching up high on a lodgepole that rutting activity will more than likely occur there, so why scent it up more than you have to. My thought is that scouting is the time to be conservative, and do as much as you can without animal contact. When the time comes to stick an arrow into that animal you have watched for weeks, he’ll have his guard down just as much as he did when you spotted him the first time. Joe
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Very thorough. Thank you!
Aneal