Anyone familiar with GMU 54?

[Bandit]

Good Morning all,
I'm trying to get some info on GMU 54 (West Elk Wilderness Area). I called a DOW rep yesterday named Brandon and his sentiment was that GMU 54 is a crap unit for archery elk. I'm just looking for a second opinion so if anyone would like to chat please pm me. I have historically hunted GMU 55 and looking for some change. Thanks in advance,
Toby

 

[wildcat33]

Brandon probably hunts 54 for archery. ha.

 

[rokclmb]

If it's officer Brandon Diamond, he stopped us a few years ago in Gunnison when he saw an bull rack in the back of our truck. Questioned us, etc. no big deal. He was friendly and helpful to us on a couple questions we had for him. He didn't seem to be familiar with some of the back roads we asked him about though, so idk.. 54 is a draw unit but only requires 0-1 pts to draw typically. Big county, so maybe it's just not his style..

 

[wildcat33]

Brandon probably hunts 54 for archery. ha.

Humor.

All jokes aside, the DOW guys Ive run into around Gunnison are damn good at what they do and have nearly bottomless knowledge of their beat. So their reco's carry weight, but there's no doubt there are elk in there. Maybe you just need to find a ranger that works closer to where you want to hunt? I don't hunt 54, but an adjacent unit and I love that area so I hunt there because its beautiful country and I eventually learned where elk go.

I think the 0-1 pp limited draw tags have their own psychology to them. They are easy to draw and are typically managed for hunter opportunity, which means higher harvest %, which means less older bulls, which turns many away. Then you have the population of hunters that save points and are locked out of these hunts because they don't want to spend XX points on a 0-1 pp hunt, so they hunt leftovers or OTC. If you don't want to play the points game, it could be a worthwhile investment to learn the unit.

 

[dtrkyman]

I was told by anyone I asked that a unit I hunted in Co. Was crap and good luck finding elk...after a few days to close in I was in elk all week.


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[Brett8133]

I’ve some friends that have hunted he killed a 280 bull and numerous people and a warden said that was a big bull for that unit . It also has a either sex rifle season that tells me it has to have a good elk population . There’s also a big chunk of wilderness area in it .


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[oopslala]

i managed the soap creek campground a couple years ago one summer. Feel free to shoot me a Pm with questions

 

[chindits]

Brandon is a stand up guy and he knows the unit well. He knows other units in the area too, I wouldn't dismiss his thoughts lightly. I believe he typically would word hunting that unit as it is a tough unit to hunt for a mature bull. It appears that the division may have considered the herd reduction efforts a few years ago as over effective. They have recently released information that the GMU herd size it not what it use to be. In addition they have suggested combining 54 with other neighboring units to more effectively manage the area. Be that as it may, there are elk in 54 as there are elk in most of CO west of I-25. There are also well established private property sanctuaries bordering that unit. This can be frustrating for many hunters who drive to hunt and witness several hundred elk on private ranches. I see elk in that unit and could see elk in that unit every day except during rifle season. Especially with the lack of hard winters in the area, the rifle season gets tougher. You will find many roads penetrating deep into that unit from multiple directions right up to the wilderness boundary. You will find other hunters in that unit. You will find plenty of predators in that unit. It's a nice unit with plenty of eye candy if you like the mountains. It will never be a high priority gmu for me to hunt, but it might not be last either.

 

[rokclmb]

Chindits, can you provide the data on the herd sizes in 54 and surrounding units? I haven't seen the updated 2017 harvest/population numbers yet. Curious if this is available to the public somewhere?

Thank you,

 

[chindits]

No my last Big Game southwest brochure is 2016. However, the Gunnison County Times did a story on GMU 54 management late last year.

 

[duckdog28]

54

I've hunted 54 & 53 quite a bit in the last 8 years. Beautiful country. Big steep stuff. This is a horsemans unit. Very hard to get to the good stuff on foot. There are still elk to be found, but the elk population is much lower now than it was 6-8 years ago. The division wanted to drop the elk numbers so they issued lots of list B & C tags and put a huge dent in the population. They just made it list A again this year, so it will take a while to get the numbers back to a reasonable level. Our group decided last year to start hunting different units for this reason. Maybe someday we'll return...

 

[mproberts]

I would second what duckdog28 said. I hunted archery elk in there a few years back and it was hard hunting. A lot of the wilderness area below the treeline was choked out with oak brush, where it wasn't it was sketchy rockslides. In mid September all the elk were still well above 9k ft hanging out in areas that were very challenging to get to and stay at to hunt. They were only coming down to water after dark. See saw elk everyday but getting on them with a bow was hard proposition. You basically had to try and sneak in on them in the middle of day and hope not to get busted, catching them to or from water was pretty impossible where we were hunting. We never saw any huge bulls, but there are definitely elk in West Elk Wilderness.

 

[Bandit]

i managed the soap creek campground a couple years ago one summer. Feel free to shoot me a Pm with questions

Hey Oopslala,
Thanks for the response. I tried to PM you but it said your inbox is full. Any chance I can email you? Here is my email if you want it, [email protected]

Thanks again,
Toby

 

[CX5Ranch]

Big outfitter camp up soap creek trail 6 miles. Better have some legs on ya

 

[realdyl75]

i managed the soap creek campground a couple years ago one summer. Feel free to shoot me a Pm with questions

Hey I have a few questions about soap creek. Care if I PM you?