First Elk Hunt - general questions about CO GMU 62

TauPhi111

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Sep 10, 2017
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Ohio
Hi all,

A friend of mine and I are about to leave Thursday for our first western hunt in Colorado unit 62 for elk. I've got a game plan made up, and I've been getting some intel from a local on Rokslide (big thanks Cody), but I'd like to know if anyone else familiar with this unit has any other useful info.

We'll be hunting around Kelso Mesa in Uncompaghre NF. If you're familiar with this area, I had a couple questions:

1. Off Divide road that separates GMU 61 and 62, there is a road called Calhoun that runs through some private land and then connects to the national forest trails on the mesa. Does anyone know if that road is accessible by the public to get to the trails, or is it totally private?

2. We'll be leaving my truck on the road and hiking in several miles. Probably won't see my truck until the end of the season unless we get something. Has anyone ever had any problems with people messing with your vehicle or stuff in your truck bed in that area? In 17 years of hunting I've never had a problem, but I always wonder in a new area.

3. Are water sources fairly abundant in all the little canyons and drainages in that area? Or am I going to have to walk down 600-1000 feet to the main creek every time we need water?

4. Has anyone had success or heard of anyone having success in that area this year?

5. How's Sprint's cell coverage in that area, if any at all?

6. In the event that we're lucky and do kill a bull, can anyone recommend a taxidermist we can leave our head with for a Euro mount since we can't bring CNS tissue back into Ohio? Near Montrose or anywhere along I-70 would be ideal so we can drop it off on our way back
 

lineman21

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Sep 21, 2016
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Nebraska
I've hunted 62 during Archery and 61 during rifle. Have been on kelso once. It's been a while so I don't remember a lot about. We accessed it off of long point. My only advice after hunting 61 last year would be to get off the top and hit the oak brush country down lower.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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6. In the event that we're lucky and do kill a bull, can anyone recommend a taxidermist we can leave our head with for a Euro mount since we can't bring CNS tissue back into Ohio? Near Montrose or anywhere along I-70 would be ideal so we can drop it off on our way back

There is a guy in Indian Hills (Hwy 285 just outside Denver, would be a short detour from I70) that does beetle cleaning. I dropped 2 heads off with him this fall, first time using him so can't comment on his work for sure yet. I have his card/price list at home if of interest.
 
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There is a guy in Indian Hills (Hwy 285 just outside Denver, would be a short detour from I70) that does beetle cleaning. I dropped 2 heads off with him this fall, first time using him so can't comment on his work for sure yet. I have his card/price list at home if of interest.

Jim Coker is his name i believe. Archoedactyl or something like that. He has done a couple for me and does great work (especially for the price). Was running a 3 month turn around last year.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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Jim Coker is his name i believe. Archoedactyl or something like that. He has done a couple for me and does great work (especially for the price). Was running a 3 month turn around last year.

Yep, I couldn't hope to type his business name out off memory, haha. Yes the pricing was good (his 2017 bull rate was $190 for upper skull cleaning FYI). He advised give him up to 3mo and he hopes to finish sooner than that what I was advised. I can see it taking a while with a load of skulls for the beetles to do their thing.

Glad to hear you liked his work.
 

gbflyer

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Feb 20, 2017
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There has been an outfitter the past few years below Calhoun's. I understand they are gone now. Most people who hunt Kelso access from the bottom. It's a bitch of a hike with an animal on your back. Awesome area though. Would be ideal with a pack string.

We spent the second rifle season 2 drainages E of where you're going. It is powder dry everywhere on the plateau, no real moisture in the forecast. Very tough hunting, we struck out and I can't recall hearing a single shot. Odd for that country as many people as there are.

Hope you have better luck than we did. Beautiful country so it's hard to really lose.
 
OP
TauPhi111

TauPhi111

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Ohio
I've hunted 62 during Archery and 61 during rifle. Have been on kelso once. It's been a while so I don't remember a lot about. We accessed it off of long point. My only advice after hunting 61 last year would be to get off the top and hit the oak brush country down lower.

Thanks that's a good tip to know. I know the top is about 8600. What elevation would you say they're at approximately? Funny they wouldn't be up top. That's where OnX and the CO hunting atlas say the winter concentration area is.
 

svivian

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Kelso can either be really good or really crowded. Use to be a nice secret hole but not so much now obviously. I do beetle cleanings as a side gig so if you get something down let me know I'm located in grand junction.
 
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TauPhi111

TauPhi111

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There has been an outfitter the past few years below Calhoun's. I understand they are gone now. Most people who hunt Kelso access from the bottom. It's a bitch of a hike with an animal on your back. Awesome area though. Would be ideal with a pack string.

We spent the second rifle season 2 drainages E of where you're going. It is powder dry everywhere on the plateau, no real moisture in the forecast. Very tough hunting, we struck out and I can't recall hearing a single shot. Odd for that country as many people as there are.

Hope you have better luck than we did. Beautiful country so it's hard to really lose.

I can now say that "a bitch of a hike" to get into and out of Kelso from long point is an understatement. There are definitely elk in there though. And we virtually had the area to ourselves. Calhoun had 3 guys hunting in there, but we only saw them once. Tons of elk shit everywhere. The elk were down in the canyons though, which were very tough to get into, because that area is STEEP and THICK!
 

oldgoat

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Can't answer much of your questions, but be prepared for weather, storm watches and warnings I believe tonight through tomorrow for the mountains. I don't know about that area as it's farther from the front range than I hunt, but I don't leave anything unlocked in my truck, not that it would stop a determined crook, but at least they can't just walk by and grab shit out.
 
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I can now say that "a bitch of a hike" to get into and out of Kelso from long point is an understatement. There are definitely elk in there though. And we virtually had the area to ourselves. Calhoun had 3 guys hunting in there, but we only saw them once. Tons of elk shit everywhere. The elk were down in the canyons though, which were very tough to get into, because that area is STEEP and THICK!

I'm going to echo the "bitch of a hike", it was miserable getting in there this year but that sometimes makes it fun! Main problem with kelso mesa is that the outfitter has easy access to it and had 3 big wall tents spaced out along the mesa. On top of that there were a couple other horse camps who packed in. Felt pretty crowded for the amount of effort it took to get in there. My preference is to find solitude with that amount of effort, definitely not the case here. We talked to a couple of the hunters who had gotten into a herd but no shots. We didn't see anything for 5 days besides cattle. We did jump a cow and calf on our hike out in the bottom of the canyon. LOTs of bear sign on kelso too but didn't see any. As everyone knows Unit 62 is a heavily hunted unit. I thought I could get away from the crowds, not the case. Maybe it was just the year but in my opinion this is a little too crowded if I'm going to pack in with as much effort as this took. There might be some elk in there but we didn't get into them and I'd say they are still heavily pressured. I'll stick to packing into less hunted areas in different units that get me away from the crowds and away from outfitters.
 

Phaseolus

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62 is statisticlly the most heavily hunted unit in the state. It is also crisscrossed with roads and trails making it very hard to get away very far from anything. Some snow really helps out.
 

jimmy88

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Jul 11, 2020
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Hopefully this thread is still active. This year I drew 1st rifle for unit 62. I've scouted a fair portion of big Dominguez Canyon and areas West of Wagon Park. After 17 miles on foot and another 20 in the truck looking for open trail heads, I found a few decent areas with lots of poop around dried up water holes. My concern is that most of the sign looked months old as though it was more of a winter range area and possibly not ideal for the first week of October. I am trying to get out one more time before the season starts to hike the areas between Brush Mountain and Kelso point. Can anyone give me insight if I am wasting my time there or will that range be occupied with more than just orange bodies during 1st rifle? I appreciate any feedback as I will most likely only get one more shot at this before I PCS outta here.
 

jutteal

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Aug 23, 2020
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Bellefontaine Ohio
TauPhi111, fellow Ohioan here, was curious how your hunt went? A buddy and I are heading out to CO for the first time and leaning towards this unit. Would love to connect and bounce some ideas off of you.
 

AM_Hunter

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Jun 9, 2021
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Sorry for reviving an old thread here. Just found out I pulled this zone for first rifle this year. Any stories or info for the last couple years? From what ive gathered from research:

1. Hunt the canyons and lower elevations, like where its all BLM?
2. Seems like it gets really crowded according to everyone but from what im seeing thers only like 300 first rifle tags. That plus people hunting cows.
3. Looks like theres lots of ATV access. So i guess try to avoid the ATV roads? Are they allowed to drive ATVs on the hiking trails too or just on designated roads?

Anything im missing? Second time out to colorado for elk so any info is appreciated.

Thanks! Hope everyone got their first choice for the draw this year.
 
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