Taking a stand over smoking-hot sign is not a bad idea. A fresh wallow serves the elk something like a scrape does a deer. However, the bull uses the wallow, usually spiced with his own urine, more as a dressing table than as an actual attraction to cows. He covers his neck and shoulders with aromatic mud so as to better romance any cow he comes across.

Trails can be hotspots. Elk are more oriented to established trails due to the rugged nature of most elk country. There are only so many good places to walk. To up your odds, look for convergence points where several trails come together to get through a particularly nasty piece of real estate.