Colorado 3rd season...do i NEED to get there for the first day?

[TauPhi111]

Hi yall,

I'm going on my first elk hunt in Colorado during the third season this year. I'm trying to manage my vacation time, and in order to maximize our hunting time and not burn a ton of vacation time, I'm thinking we might get there a day or two into the season. My thinking is that the elk have already been hunted a lot up to that point, and we are gonna spend about 5-6 days hunting over the course of the 9 day season. I assume a lot of guys will probably quit after 2, 3, 4, days, so what's the harm in hunting the last 5-6 days of the season instead of the first when the pressure dies down?

What do you experienced guys think? Do I need to be there opening day of the third season ready to rock, or can we afford to get there a little late? Of course I will watch the weather, but assuming good weather, what would you do?

While I'm on here, let me ask another first timer question: We're doing a DIY hunt on an OTC tag. We've looked at several units but haven't decided yet and we need to get this done asap. I'm looking for some good public land unit suggestions. By no means do I expect people go give me their secret hot spot, that'd be crazy, but just some general unit suggestions with an abundance of public land (and elk) where we can get far away from any roads would be immensely helpful!

Thanks and good hunting

 

[mmwb]

If I had to choose a limited amount of days, I would choose the last of the season. A lot of animals are killed on opening day, but by the end of the season they are more settled down and with little pressure. Success comes down more to skill than earlier, when it seems there needs to be more luck, with the animals getting heavily pressured. Much quieter in the woods too.

 

[COlineman78]

Depends on if you're in high pressured areas, but IMO the best way to hunt the late season is to let everyone else do the work for you and push the elk in front of you if you're in a high pressure area. So the more people the better. That being said, if you are in a lower pressure area or you are confident that you can find them and are in enough physical shape to track them down and cut them off then allowing them to calm down may be better.

 

[elkduds]

Seems I see more elk starting the 3rd day, when I hunt 2nd or 3rd season in CO. Also the # of hunters gets less after the 1st weekend. You should be headed into the steep, thick nasty by 3rd season anyway, in heavily hunted units. Good luck.