Colorado unit 61

[Firewillie77]

Was a super fun hunt, amazing place down there


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[IrkedCitizen]

Nice. Congrats. What did he score?

 

[Firewillie77]

Right around 300 not officially scored though. There were some really nice bulls taken out of there this past year.


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[Hunt41]

Nice job!!

 

[Coveyleader]

Nice bull for sure. Never saw one like that during my hunt. Well done.

 

[ahcarothers]

I am a new member and an old bow hunter. Spending 27 non-resident points on Unit 61. I can't wait any longer or I might not be able to give them a run for their money. I won't live long enough to get 201 and beat the wolves to the elk. I am able to work remotely and plan to spend Aug and Sept in the area, taking time off to hunt the first and last week or archery season. If anyone is willing to share information about the area, I would be most appreciative. In turn, I plan to take notes and will be willing to share all my scouting, hunting info on this site. It is not like I will be able to hunt elk there again. Deer are another story. I have a ton of points for them also. Thank you for your consideration.

 

[NABG Hunter]

I am a new member and an old bow hunter. Spending 27 non-resident points on Unit 61. I can't wait any longer or I might not be able to give them a run for their money. I won't live long enough to get 201 and beat the wolves to the elk. I am able to work remotely and plan to spend Aug and Sept in the area, taking time off to hunt the first and last week or archery season. If anyone is willing to share information about the area, I would be most appreciative. In turn, I plan to take notes and will be willing to share all my scouting, hunting info on this site. It is not like I will be able to hunt elk there again. Deer are another story. I have a ton of points for them also. Thank you for your consideration.

I’m in a similar place points-wise. Good luck to you!

 

[ahcarothers]

I’m in a similar place points-wise. Good luck to you!

A great bull you have there. When and where did you get him?

 

[Browning55]

Was a super fun hunt, amazing place down there


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Firewillie

I am new to rockslide so I can not pm. I’ve been a contributor to hunttalk for a while but I am just getting starters here. Anyways I finally drew the archery tag for 61 this year and I was hoping I could pick your brain about your experience.

A little background about me is I am a CO resident and I have spent the last 10 years bow hunting mostly otc and some other southern CO units that went to draw the last few years. I own a fly shop here in co and I spend most of my time either fishing or scouting elk. My personal best bill is a 270” class bull with a rifle. I am beyond excited for this tag and my goal is to break 300 on a 6x6.

 

[XLR]

I am a new member and an old bow hunter. Spending 27 non-resident points on Unit 61. I can't wait any longer or I might not be able to give them a run for their money. I won't live long enough to get 201 and beat the wolves to the elk. I am able to work remotely and plan to spend Aug and Sept in the area, taking time off to hunt the first and last week or archery season. If anyone is willing to share information about the area, I would be most appreciative. In turn, I plan to take notes and will be willing to share all my scouting, hunting info on this site. It is not like I will be able to hunt elk there again. Deer are another story. I have a ton of points for them also. Thank you for your consideration.

The biggest thing about 61 is to set your expectations and stick to them. The 270-300 inch bulls are pretty easy to find but not quite as easy to pass up on! I have seen a lot of guys kill 280-inch bulls when they got caught up in the heat of the moment! I have also seen people (me) be too picky and have to nitpick every bull and then end up eating tag soup! I passed up a bull day 1 that was around 330 but I let a buddy talk me out of it. Then on the second to last day, I had a bull at 100 yards in some aspens that was around the same score but I nitpicked him until he spooked and then decided he was big enough to shoot... never saw him again. In the end, I am not too upset because any time spent in 61 is awesome! You will see 20+ bulls a day and they will be screaming!

 

[Firewillie77]

Firewillie

I am new to rockslide so I can not pm. I’ve been a contributor to hunttalk for a while but I am just getting starters here. Anyways I finally drew the archery tag for 61 this year and I was hoping I could pick your brain about your experience.

A little background about me is I am a CO resident and I have spent the last 10 years bow hunting mostly otc and some other southern CO units that went to draw the last few years. I own a fly shop here in co and I spend most of my time either fishing or scouting elk. My personal best bill is a 270” class bull with a rifle. I am beyond excited for this tag and my goal is to break 300 on a 6x6.

I tried to pm you, not sure it works that way if not let me know

 

[Coveyleader]

The biggest thing about 61 is to set your expectations and stick to them. The 270-300 inch bulls are pretty easy to find but not quite as easy to pass up on! I have seen a lot of guys kill 280-inch bulls when they got caught up in the heat of the moment! I have also seen people (me) be too picky and have to nitpick every bull and then end up eating tag soup! I passed up a bull day 1 that was around 330 but I let a buddy talk me out of it. Then on the second to last day, I had a bull at 100 yards in some aspens that was around the same score but I nitpicked him until he spooked and then decided he was big enough to shoot... never saw him again. In the end, I am not too upset because any time spent in 61 is awesome! You will see 20+ bulls a day and they will be screaming!

How long ago was this? I was lucky to see one or two bulls a day. 20, wow, I was in the wrong flipping area for sure!

 

[XLR]

How long ago was this? I was lucky to see one or two bulls a day. 20, wow, I was in the wrong flipping area for sure!

I hunted it in 2020 and we hunted it again last year! Depends a lot on where you were and what season! Archery season you can watch elk all season but later rifle tags have them tucked in the canyons after they have been pressured!

 

[Coveyleader]

Great job! I had a rough go in there, but I'm glad to see you didn't.

 

[NABG Hunter]

I am a new member and an old bow hunter. Spending 27 non-resident points on Unit 61. I can't wait any longer or I might not be able to give them a run for their money. I won't live long enough to get 201 and beat the wolves to the elk. I am able to work remotely and plan to spend Aug and Sept in the area, taking time off to hunt the first and last week or archery season. If anyone is willing to share information about the area, I would be most appreciative. In turn, I plan to take notes and will be willing to share all my scouting, hunting info on this site. It is not like I will be able to hunt elk there again. Deer are another story. I have a ton of points for them also. Thank you for your consideration.

I'm curious if you ended up applying for Unit 61, and if so did you draw? I might be following in your footsteps in a couple years.

 

[Browning55]

Thanks all for the help. I just wanted to circle back. Got 1/3 scouting trips in and more to come. Feel like my game plans are coming together nicely.

I should be in the unit for the first 7 days and the last 14 days of season. Looking forward to reporting back.

 

[NABG Hunter]

Thanks all for the help. I just wanted to circle back. Got 1/3 scouting trips in and more to come. Feel like my game plans are coming together nicely.

I should be in the unit for the first 7 days and the last 14 days of season. Looking forward to reporting back.

Great! Feel free to share some of those bull elk scouting pics.

 

[Browning55]

Well I just got back from 61 and I wanted to thank everyone for their help.
I will do a brief recap as promised and will add to this post as I remember everything. I’m not the best writer.

As far as 61 goes had a great hunt that was at times what I expected and at other much harder or threw a curveball at me.

I had 17 days planned to be in the unit broken up between the first 5 days and the last 12. i am still forever grateful to my wife for holding down the fort with a 10mo old while I go to go hunt.

Anyways, as far as the hunting… first couple days I had in the unit started off great. Calling was mildly effective on satellites but we had the most success just sneaking in. I passed on 2 different 6pt bulls and didn’t get a clean opportunity on another bull I would have shot 2nd day. By the time the 3rd and 4th day rolled around, the moon was getting brighter and the unit felt crowded. Lots of muzzy and bear hunters in the field. The elk were still bugling at first light but were basically already hunkered down in their beds. The the hunting got real tough that Friday before muzzy. I must say I was really surprised that in Thursday and Friday before muzzy opener, I ran in to two separate hunters in the field with their guns on shoulder who claimed they were “scouting” but were actively chasing bugles. With that said I was pumped to come back as it seemed the unit would be on fire when I got back .

Fast forward to wed 21st, I headed back down to 61 in a down pour. Rain finally stopped Thursday am and I was in the field. That first day after rain was absolutely insane, elk bugling every 50yards it felt like. Within 20 min I called in a giant on a string. He came in so fast I didn’t have time to range. I took the shot but missed high. Huge bummer. That afternoon was more of same felt like I couldn't hike 100yards with out bumping elk. I got on a really nice wide 5x5 and had him in at 9 yards but passed. Everything seemed to be going perfectly. The next day we chased some great bugles and glassed up an absolute monster 360 on private. Later that morning we even called a.nice 6 in 300yards across a meadow but he hung up at 50 and dipped into some new growth aspens down wind of us when he didn’t see the cow that was calling to him. Everything was going amazing but things really changed for me come sat, it felt like the elk disappeared. The usually spots were absolutely silent with maybe a faint bugle here or there. Next 3 days we really grinded it out and didn’t have much luck. Elk were either extremely call shy or locked on private. Towards end of hunt I had one encounter with a good 6x6 and slipped in to 60 yards. I blew a bugle thinking he’d come in and boom, I blew that herd out so fast.

One thing of note here too is that I have been feeling the effects of Covid since July. Been on a steroid inhaler. By Monday this week, I was struggling to keep my shortness of breath and cough under control. Anyways I went out Monday night and said I wanted to focus on having fun and if a good bull gives me an opportunity im taking it. I had a buddy with my but I was basically calling solo and that made it tough for set ups etc… so Monday night I packed in a cow decoy(I have had this thing in a box for 5 years unused) and we started up towards an area we knew was holding elk. 15 min into hunt I heard a good bugle and it was only about 100-300 yards off the closed rd we were walking. I set up the decoy and cow called and within 10 min and a couple soft calling sequences this bull was coming in. He held up for a min but then saw the decoy. I couldn’t believe this thing might actually work. I had called from the decoy in beginning but when his bugles got closer I moved 20 yards down wind. The bull came in up wind of me and gave me a 30 yard shot. I couldn’t pass it up. I’m very grateful, had a great hunt and given the missed shot and the way my lungs were holding up, happy with my bull.

 

[NABG Hunter]

Well I just got back from 61 and I wanted to thank everyone for their help.
I will do a brief recap as promised and will add to this post as I remember everything. I’m not the best writer.

As far as 61 goes had a great hunt that was at times what I expected and at other much harder or threw a curveball at me.

I had 17 days planned to be in the unit broken up between the first 5 days and the last 12. i am still forever grateful to my wife for holding down the fort with a 10mo old while I go to go hunt.

Anyways, as far as the hunting… first couple days I had in the unit started off great. Calling was mildly effective on satellites but we had the most success just sneaking in. I passed on 2 different 6pt bulls and didn’t get a clean opportunity on another bull I would have shot 2nd day. By the time the 3rd and 4th day rolled around, the moon was getting brighter and the unit felt crowded. Lots of muzzy and bear hunters in the field. The elk were still bugling at first light but were basically already hunkered down in their beds. The the hunting got real tough that Friday before muzzy. I must say I was really surprised that in Thursday and Friday before muzzy opener, I ran in to two separate hunters in the field with their guns on shoulder who claimed they were “scouting” but were actively chasing bugles. With that said I was pumped to come back as it seemed the unit would be on fire when I got back .

Fast forward to wed 21st, I headed back down to 61 in a down pour. Rain finally stopped Thursday am and I was in the field. That first day after rain was absolutely insane, elk bugling every 50yards it felt like. Within 20 min I called in a giant on a string. He came in so fast I didn’t have time to range. I took the shot but missed high. Huge bummer. That afternoon was more of same felt like I couldn't hike 100yards with out bumping elk. I got on a really nice wide 5x5 and had him in at 9 yards but passed. Everything seemed to be going perfectly. The next day we chased some great bugles and glassed up an absolute monster 360 on private. Later that morning we even called a.nice 6 in 300yards across a meadow but he hung up at 50 and dipped into some new growth aspens down wind of us when he didn’t see the cow that was calling to him. Everything was going amazing but things really changed for me come sat, it felt like the elk disappeared. The usually spots were absolutely silent with maybe a faint bugle here or there. Next 3 days we really grinded it out and didn’t have much luck. Elk were either extremely call shy or locked on private. Towards end of hunt I had one encounter with a good 6x6 and slipped in to 60 yards. I blew a bugle thinking he’d come in and boom, I blew that herd out so fast.

One thing of note here too is that I have been feeling the effects of Covid since July. Been on a steroid inhaler. By Monday this week, I was struggling to keep my shortness of breath and cough under control. Anyways I went out Monday night and said I wanted to focus on having fun and if a good bull gives me an opportunity im taking it. I had a buddy with my but I was basically calling solo and that made it tough for set ups etc… so Monday night I packed in a cow decoy(I have had this thing in a box for 5 years unused) and we started up towards an area we knew was holding elk. 15 min into hunt I heard a good bugle and it was only about 100-300 yards off the closed rd we were walking. I set up the decoy and cow called and within 10 min and a couple soft calling sequences this bull was coming in. He held up for a min but then saw the decoy. I couldn’t believe this thing might actually work. I had called from the decoy in beginning but when his bugles got closer I moved 20 yards down wind. The bull came in up wind of me and gave me a 30 yard shot. I couldn’t pass it up. I’m very grateful, had a great hunt and given the missed shot and the way my lungs were holding up, happy with my bull.

Congrats! That's an awesome bull and great story. Glad you persevered. Good job, and thanx for sharing!!!

 

[Firewillie77]

Well I just got back from 61 and I wanted to thank everyone for their help.
I will do a brief recap as promised and will add to this post as I remember everything. I’m not the best writer.

As far as 61 goes had a great hunt that was at times what I expected and at other much harder or threw a curveball at me.

I had 17 days planned to be in the unit broken up between the first 5 days and the last 12. i am still forever grateful to my wife for holding down the fort with a 10mo old while I go to go hunt.

Anyways, as far as the hunting… first couple days I had in the unit started off great. Calling was mildly effective on satellites but we had the most success just sneaking in. I passed on 2 different 6pt bulls and didn’t get a clean opportunity on another bull I would have shot 2nd day. By the time the 3rd and 4th day rolled around, the moon was getting brighter and the unit felt crowded. Lots of muzzy and bear hunters in the field. The elk were still bugling at first light but were basically already hunkered down in their beds. The the hunting got real tough that Friday before muzzy. I must say I was really surprised that in Thursday and Friday before muzzy opener, I ran in to two separate hunters in the field with their guns on shoulder who claimed they were “scouting” but were actively chasing bugles. With that said I was pumped to come back as it seemed the unit would be on fire when I got back .

Fast forward to wed 21st, I headed back down to 61 in a down pour. Rain finally stopped Thursday am and I was in the field. That first day after rain was absolutely insane, elk bugling every 50yards it felt like. Within 20 min I called in a giant on a string. He came in so fast I didn’t have time to range. I took the shot but missed high. Huge bummer. That afternoon was more of same felt like I couldn't hike 100yards with out bumping elk. I got on a really nice wide 5x5 and had him in at 9 yards but passed. Everything seemed to be going perfectly. The next day we chased some great bugles and glassed up an absolute monster 360 on private. Later that morning we even called a.nice 6 in 300yards across a meadow but he hung up at 50 and dipped into some new growth aspens down wind of us when he didn’t see the cow that was calling to him. Everything was going amazing but things really changed for me come sat, it felt like the elk disappeared. The usually spots were absolutely silent with maybe a faint bugle here or there. Next 3 days we really grinded it out and didn’t have much luck. Elk were either extremely call shy or locked on private. Towards end of hunt I had one encounter with a good 6x6 and slipped in to 60 yards. I blew a bugle thinking he’d come in and boom, I blew that herd out so fast.

One thing of note here too is that I have been feeling the effects of Covid since July. Been on a steroid inhaler. By Monday this week, I was struggling to keep my shortness of breath and cough under control. Anyways I went out Monday night and said I wanted to focus on having fun and if a good bull gives me an opportunity im taking it. I had a buddy with my but I was basically calling solo and that made it tough for set ups etc… so Monday night I packed in a cow decoy(I have had this thing in a box for 5 years unused) and we started up towards an area we knew was holding elk. 15 min into hunt I heard a good bugle and it was only about 100-300 yards off the closed rd we were walking. I set up the decoy and cow called and within 10 min and a couple soft calling sequences this bull was coming in. He held up for a min but then saw the decoy. I couldn’t believe this thing might actually work. I had called from the decoy in beginning but when his bugles got closer I moved 20 yards down wind. The bull came in up wind of me and gave me a 30 yard shot. I couldn’t pass it up. I’m very grateful, had a great hunt and given the missed shot and the way my lungs were holding up, happy with my bull.

Congrats man!! Way to stay after it