CO Unit 78

[YORT40]

I was just informed that we have permission to get on 1000 acres of private land just purchased in Unit 78. This property is next to the San Juan River outside of Pagosa Springs. The owner is not a hunter, so he has no info. for us. What do ya think the chances are of finding the elk without a chance to scout the area? Rookie question I know, but I've always hunted the units to the North.

Thanks

 

[COHunter]

Well we dont want you to waste $500 on a "maybe", so get me access and I'll check it out for you

 

[BOWUNTR]

Better chance of finding a monster mulie. NM 2b is just south of there and that unit is the best because the deer migrate across the border from Co. I've seen good elk in 2b but not many. That's all I know. I'm not sure If I would waste some precious hunting time without scouting or getting more reliable info. Hope it helps a little. Oh yeah, bring your fly rod. The San Juan is one of the best in the country. Ed F

 

[YORT40]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BOWUNTR @ Aug 21 2007, 03:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Better chance of finding a monster mulie. NM 2b is just south of there and that unit is the best because the deer migrate across the border from Co. I've seen good elk in 2b but not many. That's all I know. I'm not sure If I would waste some precious hunting time without scouting or getting more reliable info. Hope it helps a little. Oh yeah, bring your fly rod. The San Juan is one of the best in the country. Ed F[/b]

Ya,
that's what I was thinking. The property has water & the CO aspens, but unless COhunter is bringing the bulls with him in the back of his truck, we would be rolling the dice on a 16 hour drive. I guess I'm getting too old to try another area cold turkey.

 

[COHunter]

Thats why you should let me roll the dice

 

[jackman]

You can buy a co over the counter Bull tag. If the hunting isnt any good ,come back west toward Durango. Ive always had good luck in the Durango area.
PS If Durango area is bad ,they have a great night life.You can eat good and swap lies

 

[foulshot]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (COHunter @ Aug 23 2007, 10:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Thats why you should let me roll the dice

[/b]

Two sets of eyes are better than one, I'll drive!

 

[YORT40]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (foulshot @ Aug 25 2007, 09:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (COHunter @ Aug 23 2007, 10:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats why you should let me roll the dice

[/b]

Two sets of eyes are better than one, I'll drive!
[/b][/quote]
You both would have crapped-out, just like me!!!

We left Calif. with a promise that the owner would call & give the exact location of the property. Guess what? The cell phone never rang, the guy took-off on a business trip with all the info. We had the combo to the gates, but only a description of the land. Needless to say, after driving the county dirt roads for 8 hours, we never found the property.

 

[COHunter]

As they say...


That SUCKS!!!!!!

 

[SDHNTR]

Oh man, that blows. Did you find anywhere else to hunt?

 

[Zbearclaw]

Wow, that sucks.

Sorry about that.

 

[wmidbrook]

Sorry to hear about such a set-back. What did you do?

I had a land-owner pull a "bait & switch" on me once I was a captive client already out there....he said $400 over the phone...I got out there and he raised the rates to $1000. Thank goodness there was a ton of public land just like SW CO...set me back a few days tho.

 

[jackman]

It would have been wise to take Jackmans thoughts and hunt the public land around Durango "Nuff Said"

 

[YORT40]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jackman @ Sep 11 2007, 06:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

It would have been wise to take Jackmans thoughts and hunt the public land around Durango "Nuff Said"[/b]

My partner grew-up in Durango. So if you want to write my sad story, here it is:

I left Mammoth @ 9 pm not knowing that we did not know the private property location. About an hour into the trip my partner started checking his messages, which there was none. Because he had hunted the Durango area for many years, we decided to start there, and wait for the call. After drivng 25 miles into the mountains east of Durango, we set-up camp and went on a 3 mile hike to check out some deep valleys and parks. We didn't see any fresh sign and there was no bugling as we stayed out after dark and didn't get back to camp until 8:30 pm. The next morning we were up by 4:30, and took the quads into a burn area. Then hiked back another 5 miles into some draws. Once again there was no bugling and little fresh sign. On the hike back, we bugled in 3 hunters from Oklahoma,and found that they had been hunting for a week and not seen anything. On the quad ride back we stopped by a hunting camp which the guys were packing up. They were from Arkansas and had been hunting the same area for 2 weeks. All that was seen was 2 cows and that was all. They were very talkative, nice guys until they found-out we were from Calif. Then they went back to cleaning-up. (Funny now that happens).

Anyways, we went back to camp and decided to pack up, go down the hill and see if we could get cell service to start making the call to the land owner and head for Pagosa Springs. 3 hours later we were @ the Archery shop in Pagosa springs trying to find this property on a county map with the info. we had. The shop owner tried helping us, but as we described the area, he informed us that we had better be careful because the area we were talking about was right next to the Ute Reservation, and they will arrest anyone hunting their land. So we considered the info. we had, bought a county road map and went looking for a parcel which the San Juan River ran through on the county dirt roads. 5 hours later we were back in Pagosa Springs without a clue. So we drove back to Durango, got a room @ 10:30 pm. We decided to try another area which my partner used to hunt outside of Delores the next day.

So we woke @ 4:30 and headed up the 160 Hwy. After 3 hours we were back on another county dirt road trying to get to a certain area. 45 min. later heading into lower elevations, my partner looked @ me and said we had taken the wrong turn 20 miles back. We turned around and started back from where we had just come. After we finally found the area my partner was looking for, we got back on the quads and started looking for a logging road which would get us to a higher glassing area. Everytime we thought we had found something, we would run into a hunting camp or a closed road.

With all the events of the last few days, I was getting a tad-bit bitter. For those who know me, I'm a very easy going guy who is open to many things or types of hunts. But, at about this time, I was over the grit in my teeth and the amount of driving time compared to hunting time. So when we stopped to check on one of the many different roads, the question was asked of me, "So, what do ya think?". With that, I blurted out, "What I think is, we should get back to the truck, trailer the quads, and get back home so I can finish my A-16 hunt. I don't know this place, you don't know this place, so the chances of finding elk around all the other hunters is slim and none". Within 2 hours we were back on the 491 Hwy heading back.
I got us home @ 1:30 am on Saturday, woke @ 5 am and was chasing deer by 6.

Maybe I'm getting too old for the out of state stuff!!

 

['Ike']

That's a tough one 'T'! Sorry to hear about that....