HELP. Colorado Elk

[Researcher]

No Colarado... they have plenty of elk tacos there and no wolves.

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There are more wolves in idaho than ticks in Minnesota

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Everyone is going to try to steer you away from "their" spot, whether it is the game unit they hunt, or the state they hunt. Colorado has had unlimited OTC tags for some seasons and units for a long time, so every new hunter is told to go to Colorado on every forum and Facebook page. I've lived and hunted here for a couple of decades, and can tell you it is changing. I'm looking at Wyoming and Montana for more true solitude type of hunts, and putting in for points there.

Wherever you choose to go, the best bet is to just go. Be courteous and friendly, and if an old local grumbles at you or stumbles through your camp, offer him a beer and a sandwich or a chocolate chip cookie. A little hospitality can yield a treasure trove of local knowledge.

 

[spencercloud]

Everyone is going to try to steer you away from "their" spot, whether it is the game unit they hunt, or the state they hunt. Colorado has had unlimited OTC tags for some seasons and units for a long time, so every new hunter is told to go to Colorado on every forum and Facebook page. I've lived and hunted here for a couple of decades, and can tell you it is changing. I'm looking at Wyoming and Montana for more true solitude type of hunts, and putting in for points there.

Wherever you choose to go, the best bet is to just go. Be courteous and friendly, and if an old local grumbles at you or stumbles through your camp, offer him a beer and a sandwich or a chocolate chip cookie. A little hospitality can yield a treasure trove of local knowledge.

Awesome advice, thanks a bunch!


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[Indian Summer]

I’ll pass on Colorado! Denver alone... not counting the suburbs has as many people as the entire state of Wyoming! Colorado’s population increases big time during hunting season too.

 

[Bob92057]

Go where the critters are: research where others are applying / draw outs and narrow your search from there.

Elk are nomadic. I could give you gps Coords to my HH, but they won’t be there next week or month or year.

Where do Elk live and need at the time of year you intend to hunt?

 

[lak2004]

Here we go again for the millionth time. My advice is to hire a guide so you don't have to work very hard like you said.

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[fatlander]

Until you show up, everything is going to be unexpected. If you’ve never been elk hunting before, everything is unexpected. You can read every post, follow every podcast, buy elk 101, read every article but you don’t really know what you don’t really know.

Throw a dart at the map, poor over maps, pick likely spots, and go hunting. Forget the fishing poles at home. You can really forget a lot of junk you’ll think you need. If you want to hunt elk, go hunt elk. If you want to go hiking and fishing, go hiking and fishing.

All you need to elk hunt out of state is this:

Bow - X2
A good pack
Good boots
Good shelter
Good pad
Good bag
Food
Water
Fire
Baselayer
Hiking pants
Puffy
Good Rain gear
Ball Cap
Beanie
Wind checker
A diaphragm you know how to use
Two big boat sized coolers
A good knife
Good game bags

And most importantly, BE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE SHAPE YOU CAN AND SHOW UP WITH A CAN DO-WONT QUIT ATTITUDE. You won’t kill an elk
with a fishing pole in your hand. It’s going to suck, the weather will suck, the elk will be quiet, there’s going to be people, you may go days without seeing game. Just be ready to hike further and harder until you find elk.

And for goodness sakes, do not talk about specify units on a public forum. Period.


Good luck. Elk hunting is one of the hardest, yet most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I’m already counting down the days until next September. I’m sure you will too once you experience it.


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[Bob92057]

^^^ solid advice ^^^

 

[ChrisAU]

Until you show up, everything is going to be unexpected. If you’ve never been elk hunting before, everything is unexpected. You can read every post, follow every podcast, buy elk 101, read every article but you don’t really know what you don’t really know.

Throw a dart at the map, poor over maps, pick likely spots, and go hunting. Forget the fishing poles at home. You can really forget a lot of junk you’ll think you need. If you want to hunt elk, go hunt elk. If you want to go hiking and fishing, go hiking and fishing.

All you need to elk hunt out of state is this:

Bow - X2
A good pack
Good boots
Good shelter
Good pad
Good bag
Food
Water
Fire
Baselayer
Hiking pants
Puffy
Good Rain gear
Ball Cap
Beanie
Wind checker
A diaphragm you know how to use
Two big boat sized coolers
A good knife
Good game bags

And most importantly, BE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE SHAPE YOU CAN AND SHOW UP WITH A CAN DO-WONT QUIT ATTITUDE. You won’t kill an elk
with a fishing pole in your hand. It’s going to suck, the weather will suck, the elk will be quiet, there’s going to be people, you may go days without seeing game. Just be ready to hike further and harder until you find elk.

And for goodness sakes, do not talk about specify units on a public forum. Period.


Good luck. Elk hunting is one of the hardest, yet most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I’m already counting down the days until next September. I’m sure you will too once you experience it.


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Can we make this post required reading when you sign up for an account?

 

[buckwalleye]

This was my first (and probably last) year in Colorado hunting otc units. So I have a half tick above zero for experience. Tag soup also. Here's one thing I noticed. If there's a mountain lake that's "good" fishing, there will be a lot of campers and people just fishing. I felt kinda silly in my camo wielding a bow while walking by families in their REI gear going to fish and camp for the night. And this particular lake was about a 6 mile hike from the trailhead. If your not going to Colorado until 2021, buy points and do your research what units you can draw with one or two points. Find a lake in that unit. There's probably fish in it. I found it quite impossible to get away from people in the otc units. Again, this was my experience for my first time elk hunting. We were in 3 units out of the X amount of otc units in Colorado. Driving through these forest roads, truck crawling in 4 wheel drive, any little flat spot someone could pull off and pitch a tent, someone was camped. And we were in what the data showed to be very low hunter numbers compared to other otc units. For this private land owner-flat lander-whitetail hunter, I was out of my element. But, it was a great trip and I learned a lot...great scenery, saw lots of deer and antelope, had one close cow encounter, saw a beautiful bull jump a fence onto private our last night driving out, and just living out of your pack was quite an experience. Until next time!!

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[Mosby]

What’s up guys! I’m new here and I’m seeking some help! I’m planning an Elk hunt to Colorado in 2021..long ways I know, trying to get my ducks in order! I’m looking for sort of a balance.. I’m looking for the best GMU for elk while also providing some fishing spots. I know he’s crazy, fishing on an elk hunt. I’m just planning if the weather gets me down or the lack of luck I can take a day to fish and wind down or if I tag out early. I will also have some buddies that don’t have tags so they may look for some other activities. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks guys!

The best GMU for elk is subjective and will vary by person and year. What is good for me, might suck for you. I had to find a new elk unit to hunt this year and quickly determined that online information is almost useless, at least for me.

I had to drive all over the state of Colorado, camp for several days, find trail heads, hike, replace a transmission in Denver, stop to talk with people, buy maps and find a place to stay. Its hard work, takes time and costs money to find places to elk hunt and you will learn a lot in the process for future hunts. There really aren't any shortcuts unless you are a lot luckier than I am.

I didn't want to spend time and money scouting either but its part of the process and I try to enjoy it. If you don't, you might be better off hunting with an outfitter or doing a drop camp hunt.

 

[Newtosavage]

Just remember that every guy saying "it ain't what it used to be" also didn't just start hunting. That kind of information is completely irrelevant to the new hunter. To the new hunter, everything is as good as it ever was.

I didn't start hunting elk in CO until 5 years ago. Is it hard? Yes. Are there lots of elk? Also yes. All I can think is that if it was that much better long ago, then it must have been easy. And easy is not why we do this.

Listen to Fatlander. Get in shape. Then just go. No amount of surfing these forums can replace even one day in the field.

 

[Truthbetold]

Spencercloud- Where do you live?

I am in N.C. and am planning a trip for both 2020 and 2021.

I am in the same boat you are. I've done a lot of research on the gmus and I'm happy to share what I have compiled as it doesn't take anything away from me since I haven't set foot in any GMUs yet. Might give you a jumping off point. My email address is [email protected].

 

[spencercloud]

Spencercloud- Where do you live?

I am in N.C. and am planning a trip for both 2020 and 2021.

I am in the same boat you are. I've done a lot of research on the gmus and I'm happy to share what I have compiled as it doesn't take anything away from me since I haven't set foot in any GMUs yet. Might give you a jumping off point. My email address is [email protected].

I live in the Hickory area, I’ll shoot you an email, I wouldn’t mind sharing some info I’ve come across as well! Anything to help!


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[Truthbetold]

I live in the Hickory area, I’ll shoot you an email, I wouldn’t mind sharing some info I’ve come across as well! Anything to help!


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That's crazy. I'm in West iredell. Sounds like we need to meet up. Maybe you can join with the group I'm taking.

 

[spencercloud]

That's crazy. I'm in West iredell. Sounds like we need to meet up. Maybe you can join with the group I'm taking.

That’s wild! Shoot me a pm on here!


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[Truthbetold]

That’s wild! Shoot me a pm on here!


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Don't think I can yet. Been reading this board for a while but just registered tonight.

 

[spencercloud]

Don't think I can yet. Been reading this board for a while but just registered tonight.

Sent an email!


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[ScreamingPotato]

Instead of waiting til 2021 to go,

Everyone is going to try to steer you away from "their" spot, whether it is the game unit they hunt, or the state they hunt. Colorado has had unlimited OTC tags for some seasons and units for a long time, so every new hunter is told to go to Colorado on every forum and Facebook page. I've lived and hunted here for a couple of decades, and can tell you it is changing. I'm looking at Wyoming and Montana for more true solitude type of hunts, and putting in for points there.

Wherever you choose to go, the best bet is to just go. Be courteous and friendly, and if an old local grumbles at you or stumbles through your camp, offer him a beer and a sandwich or a chocolate chip cookie. A little hospitality can yield a treasure trove of local knowledge.

Don't listen to him, he's steering you away from Colorado!!!!

 

[Brandon_SPC]

It's not hard to find fishing spots in Colorado. Just go to the store, but some Mepps spinners and go cast in a nice creek or stream somewhere in a valley. You will probably end up catching some rainbows, browns, or brookies. To decide where you want to hunt get a Gohunt.com membership. Seriously it will cut down on ALOT of work for you.

And just like Newt said don't pay attention to the statistics of harvest rates. I would pay more attention to the bull to cow to hunter ratio over anything. Heck I went hunting in one of the lowest success rate OTC units in CO this year (6-7% harvest rate for just about all the seasons). First day I hunted I missed a 5x5 and a nice 6x6 probably pushing 300". Big enough I would have spent a taxidermy bill on and also called in two more bulls that day.