So who's headed to Colorado for elk this fall?

[Aught-SixGuy]

Planning my trip already. Gonna head back up to Meeker and try to duplicate my DIY success from 2011. Anybody else headed out that way?

 

[jls456]

Applications sent. With 8 PP's,we might (should) draw our choice for deer. Have 19 for Elk,but will not apply this year. Been hunting same area for 33 years. !!

 

[Aught-SixGuy]

Nice! Hoping I'll draw a GMU12 buck tag this year. But definitely heading back there for OTC elk.

 

[jls456]

Elk all over the unit I hunt,just not to many large Bulls. Not a whole lotta of deer either,but when you find a buck.....................WHOA!

 

[brushape]

planning a trip out there this fall myself, never been elk hunting before but have it totally set in my mind to chase one of these beasts this fall. Looking into many different units and any help at all would be appreciated by a total elk virgin. I plan on being there 3-4 days before the season starts untill it ends if i need to

 

[Aught-SixGuy]

planning a trip out there this fall myself, never been elk hunting before but have it totally set in my mind to chase one of these beasts this fall. Looking into many different units and any help at all would be appreciated by a total elk virgin. I plan on being there 3-4 days before the season starts untill it ends if i need to

I was in your shoes in 2011. Brand new to elk hunting, only scouted one weekend in June before heading up. We saw elk almost every day, including three legal bulls. I'm not a trophy hunter, so I shoot the first legal animal I can. I spent a lot of time road hunting, just learning the area and scouting as I hunted. I learned a lot on that trip. I will tell you now, prepare for snow. Make sure you have 4wd and chains. Bring good layering clothes, and get some well insulated boots. I was smart and bought this stuff beforehand. Plan for success. The herd I was hunting (The White River Herd) has around 40,000 elk in it. There are elk out there. After a few days of road hunting and learning the area, we had a good snow, got about 2 feet at the altitude I hunted. This made spotting animals easy, but it's still a lot of work. I put a lot of miles on my boots that week. I got lucky with my bull, we were headed down a small road down into a basin that we planned to hike out from. Two 5 point bulls ran across the road in front of us, and I dropped mine with a 110 yard running shot. After which he got back up and tried to walk away. I had to put a few rounds in him to seal the deal, part of which was my excitement and part of which was how tough these critters are. Prepare for steep and thick brush covered mountains, and be patient. Calling didn't work, but I had to try it. For a beginner, GMU 12 and the surrounding units have plenty of access, good roads, camping (although I "glamp" in a motel) and lots of terrain to look over. Definitely show up early to acclimate to the altitude and scout. The more scouting, the less road hunting to learn the area. Get away from the guys on ATVs all they do is push animals. I watched this happen. A bunch of ATV guys cruising the roads didn't see the 7 elk right under their noses that I was glassing from about 700 yards away. All the elk did was move out of the way, then bed down when the ATV guys left. Stay out all day, and glass til your eyes hurt. Boring, but leads to seeing more animals. In 5 days of hunting, we saw 33 elk, including 4 bulls. Also get a good topo map as there is private property in the area. Hope this helps! If you got any other questions you can PM me for more details.

 

[mtnsammy]

Give me a halla. So far I am a no but buying a preference point for Montrose hunt in 2014. I may go for 2nd rifle on a whim but after the solo hunt last time wifey won't let me go alone again.

At least I can share some map points with you from the last 2 hunts. We can meet up in the desert sometime. Nice part on OTC for 2nd rifle almost always tags are avail up to the open day.

 

[Aught-SixGuy]

Yep. I believe I still have your number. You're welcome to come along if you end up buying a tag. So far there's just me and my brother in law, with two other maybes.

 

[brushape]

so diving deeper into my research it seems that I can draw a first season rifle tag for several different units I have been researching and also either sex first season tags in another i read about. there are obvious reasons why a either sex tag is appealing to me but is there any benefit to going with the first season? seems like there would be less hunters being that it is draw only and people are lazy, I know the elk would be higher but there is a chance of catching the tail of the rut

 

[brushape]

also is there a location that has information on harvest stats for each season?

 

[mtnsammy]

1st rifle has its benefits. Over the last 2 years numbers have dropped a lot. My brother has hunted Meeker for several years and it has gone from thousands everywhere to last year only a few. Opening day there were still several large sites open for camping and in the field seldom did you bump into another hunter. Not to say it wont gain popularity again but money is tight and locals outnumbered us out of state hunters.

Either sex tags are nice as I found out last year. I saw nothing but bulls when the hunt was on and sat there with a cow tag. Then again others complained all they say were cows everywhere?? At least with either sex you can take a shot for meat and go another year for a trophy when points get you to the nice areas.

 

[brushape]

1st season is sounding better and better to me except the only person considering coming along with me only wants to hunt mule deer and that wouldnt work in that season. in the coloroado sight where it list preference points needed to draw tags a few hunt codes arent listed for some reason and one of them is one I am really looking at is 21-22-30 for the first rifle season, does anybody know if this is drawable with zero points?

 

[mtnsammy]

Try looking around here for more info on Colorado. I learned much there.

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/ElkHuntingUniversity/Pages/ElkHuntingUniversity.aspx

 

[brushape]

wow for some reason i thought i read that before but that is entirely different and full of information thanks, If anyone else has any other information they might want to share to help a newbie out shoot me a pm I might be willing to trade for A20 info or possibly a fishing trip on the party boat I work on

 

[Litch]

1st season is sounding better and better to me except the only person considering coming along with me only wants to hunt mule deer and that wouldnt work in that season. in the coloroado sight where it list preference points needed to draw tags a few hunt codes arent listed for some reason and one of them is one I am really looking at is 21-22-30 for the first rifle season, does anybody know if this is drawable with zero points?

Bull Elk is over the counter and Cow Elk is a draw but takes 0 points to draw in 21 or 22, just very tough hunting for them there.
Ooops, just saw the 1st rifle season part, yes a draw but easy to get with 0pp's

 

[mtnsammy]

I could go for a fishing party boat trip. Heck I would even bring all my maps and GPS points for you to read. Every year day one takes at least 12 bull/cows within 1/2 mile of me and where I hunt. I will talk your ears off. Then again if the party boat is on Big Bear I got that covered. let me know anytime.

 

[brushape]

ya my boat is based out of San francisco and we wont be fishing untill april 6 when salmon opens. Due to the blue angles and fleetweek i would be missing tons of money going during the first season so now I have resorted back to 2nd

 

[Aught-SixGuy]

ya my boat is based out of San francisco and we wont be fishing untill april 6 when salmon opens. Due to the blue angles and fleetweek i would be missing tons of money going during the first season so now I have resorted back to 2nd

Well if you end up going for 2nd in GMU 12, you're welcome to meet up with us and we can show you around. Mtsammy might be coming with, would be fun to meet up and hunt with fellow JHOers.

 

[brushape]

right on thanks, trying to talk my dad into buying a deer tag and coming along

 

[Aught-SixGuy]

Deer tags are draw, so good luck. Hope he draws!