During the episode, we cover Ben’s scouting strategy, what he is doing differently than everyone else, and how he finds new spots with less pressure well before the season begins. Ben also walks us through certain terrain features to look for that hold elk even after the hunting pressure hits and how to set up accordingly. We cover a ton of useful tactics, strategies, and stories from Ben’s past hunts and how he is able to kill bulls on a consistent basis with a bow. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

Topics Covered In This Episode Include:

• What Ben is doing now before the season starts for scouting and how he utilizes trail cameras to find good bulls on public land
• Ben’s background, where he’s from, what he does for a career, and where he lives currently
• Working in the outdoor industry and balancing a work/play lifestyle with a full-time job and a family
• How Ben consistently gets it done, year after year, and what he is doing differently than a lot of other hunters
• Why Ben is always looking for new locations to hunt and how he finds new areas
• Digital scouting via OnXmaps and Google Earth locate new honey holes
• Terrain features Ben looks when trying to find lower pressured locations on public land and how he thinks outside of the box
• Developing skills and broadening your range of hunting style to maximize success on killing elk
• Not using the same playbook as everyone else when it comes to calling elk and hunting the same areas
• Early season elk hunting strategy versus the peak rut during late September
• Full moon hunting and how Ben thinks it affects elk movement and the rut
• Becoming a successful elk hunter and how it takes years of experience to reach a high level of success

Today we are joined by returning guest, Cliff Gray the owner of Flat Tops Wilderness Guides where we discuss various elk hunting strategies for archery and all four rifle seasons in Colorado. We talk about highly debated topics such as the full moon and how it affects movement, what to do during the middle of the day when the action is slow, and what the dry conditions will do to elk concentration in 2018.

For more information on Cliff Gray and his deer, elk, sheep, and goat hunting operation, please visit: flattopswildernessguides.com

Topics Covered In This Episode Include:

• Cliff’s recent adventures in the high country of Colorado, guiding hunters for sheep and goat
• An overview of Flat Tops Wilderness Guides, a deer and elk hunting outfit that Cliff operates in Colorado
• Why elk are so easy to find before hunting season and his theory behind why they change their patterns so quickly after hunting starts
• The full moon and how Cliff believes it affects the movement of elk
• What to do in the middle of the day during archery season when the action is slow and the weather is hot
• Where to spend your time glassing and what to look for while doing it
• Spooking elk and what they do depending on where you blow them out from
• What do when you find fresh elk sign but you’re not immediately seeing animals
• Pre-rut elk strategy and what Cliff does during the first two weeks of September to have success
• How the density of elk play into how vocal elk are with bugles and cow calls
• The main factors and conditions that trigger elk to move more
• Hunting thermals in elk country and how to set up an approach during both mornings and evenings
• The dry conditions in Colorado for 2018 and how the drought will affect the concentration of elk
• The biggest difference in the strategy of finding elk during rifle season compared to archery season
• What Cliff keys in on to find elk during 2nd and 3rd rifle season in Colorado and the biggest factor that causes elk to be in certain spots
• How to find overlooked “honey holes” in elk country
• The biggest weather conditions that affect elk movement in the high country
• How to utilize snowy conditions to track elk and why Cliff likes to get aggressive with this strategy
• The best tactics for elk hunting during warm weather conditions during rifle season
• Navigating 4th season rifle in Colorado and what to do during the late November time period locate bulls