Navigating the Colorado draws and regulations

[Fatcamp]

I guess my thinking is that if I apply for just an elk point in Wyoming, it's $52. In Colorado, it's now an even $100. I only purchased the deer point because it'd be economically silly not to do so once you've already got the license.

Who knows, though. Maybe it'll thin out competition for limited entry units some.

Add in antelope and it's a bargain.

 

[OXN939]

Add in antelope and it's a bargain.

Haha, fair enough! That honestly may have been part of the Colorado DNR's thinking- "Give them cheap rates on lots of Preference Points for different species, and they'll come back and spend thousands of dollars in the state multiple times for different hunts"

 

[Fatcamp]

That, and they need you to invest in the system a bit. It costs a lot of money to do their work, and helping out a bit isn't out of line. That's what the lady said.

She also said they are answering draw questions all day every day. When I was in there a dude came in, "Can you please explain the point system to me. I am lost." LOL

 

[Sportsman]

If you purchase elk and deer points, it didn't go up that much. It's just a restructure in how you pay. I freaked out and first until I did the math. I paid $40 each for elk and deer preference points in 2018. Now I buy a small game for $81.75 and my points are free.

If you just build points in one species, it was a jump in price.

 

[davidraley18]

Great info so far! I’m going to follow along because I’m in the same situation.

 

[BHakeneis]

Im gonna tag onto this thread because I've got the same questions. Being from the midwest and only hunting deer some of the regs and rules are a little hard to learn. How do you go about choosing a spot for OTC?

 

[Newtosavage]

I can tell you what I did 5 years ago, having never hunted elk before...

I had a friend who had invited me to go for several years and finally took him up on his offer. However, I couldn't go the same week as him and his dad. I could only go the week after. So on the drive up to the same area, they told me what they had learned the week prior. I think I may have even gotten their campsite. I invited a friend who had very little experience as well. We both knew it was going to be a camping/hiking trip and we'd be damn lucky to have a chance at an elk. This was mid-Sept. archery season. Since it seemed like a lot of money for a tag considering the amount of experience we had - and the fact that we didn't see any reason BOTH of us needed to kill one - we made a deal to draw straws at the license counter once we got there, to see who would be hunting, and we would each pay half the cost of the tag.

That worked out really well. We hunted together for a week and saw a few elk (nothing legal, but still a great experience) saw a lot of hunters, saw some gorgeous country, lost about 7 lbs each and had a great time. We both considered our half of the tag to be our "tuition" for Elk 101, and that's exactly what it was.

I would encourage any first time flat landers (like I was) to go with a group and split the cost of the tag(s). If you don't get the tag, then be a good guide, caller, spotter, meat packer and take home 25 lbs. of elk meat as the law allows. You will learn just as much as if you paid full price, or you might get lucky and be the hunter. Either way you will be much more prepared for your 2nd trip.

On our 2nd trip, we were in elk most of the week and my buddy had a herd surround him on the 2nd day of the hunt. Only bad luck saved the lead cow (we were hunting on muzzleloader cow tags) and I heard about it the rest of the week. LOL I never got a clean shot at one but very easily could have if I had a little more luck. All in all, it was a great hunt and the experience from the 1st year was priceless.

The other thing I'd say is just pick a unit that has everything in it you want. If you want road access and convenient services, there are units like that where there are plenty of elk. If you want remote wilderness, there are plenty of units that have that too, and everything in-between. Consider HOW you want to hunt and how many people you can tolerate seeing, and let that help you pick a unit. Then, my last advice is get there at least 5 days before the opener and scout your pants off. Three years now, I've ended up hunting more than 5 miles from where I started scouting and last year my buddy took his bull on opening day 80 miles from where we started! Without those days of scouting ahead of time, we would have struck out big time.

Last advice I can offer is get in the best shape you possibly can. I promise you, all the work will be worth it when you're sucking wind at 10K.

Good luck!