Hello everyone, this is the first thread I have posted on the forum. I have found a lot of great information here over the years but I have never had a question before today that wasn't answered in an existing thread. I am a 38 year old midwest hunter that got addicted to heading west. I started with antelope in high school with my father and continued to go to Wyoming several times through my 20's. I did not start elk hunting until I was 22, and I have been hooked since. I have only hunted 2 different draw units in Colorado and a couple OTC units during archery seasons. I have never hunted Wyoming for elk until this year (putting in 9 years to draw).
Now for my question, I had some friends draw the unit 11 elk tag a couple of years ago and both had success during archery season. I was unable to go with them that year but I was fortunate to draw the tag this year. I bought the archery permit and hunted unit 11 the last week of September this year. I did not get a bull on my trip in September, but it was by far the best elk hunt I have ever been on. After the second day I was on herd bulls every morning. I have never hunted a unit in Colorado where the bulls were so vocal. I got within 100 yds of three different herd bulls and called in 4 satellites within bow range. The area the elk were in was so thick that I only saw one of the bulls that week (it was on the western side of the unit next to a creek that was very still). I don't want to go into too much detail and give away someone's spot, just enough hopefully to let you know that I'm not making up BS. I am going back the week of Thanksgiving by myself to hopefully fill my tag. Any other year I would eat the tag but this has taken me 9 years to draw and a lot of $. In the future I won't wait this long to draw and will be going with a general tag. With it being Thanksgiving I will not have anyone going with me. I am bringing a 4 wheeler this time to get better access to some of the smaller/rougher roads in the unit. And so I don't take the chance of getting my truck stuck while on my own (I already have chains for my truck just in case). I plan on hunting the 2 different drainages in the Wick wildlife area since they extended the access to the end of November. Any suggestions on how to hunt late season elk in unit 11 would be greatly appreciated. Or maybe more importantly what not to do or where not to go if there is heavy snow.
Thank you
Now for my question, I had some friends draw the unit 11 elk tag a couple of years ago and both had success during archery season. I was unable to go with them that year but I was fortunate to draw the tag this year. I bought the archery permit and hunted unit 11 the last week of September this year. I did not get a bull on my trip in September, but it was by far the best elk hunt I have ever been on. After the second day I was on herd bulls every morning. I have never hunted a unit in Colorado where the bulls were so vocal. I got within 100 yds of three different herd bulls and called in 4 satellites within bow range. The area the elk were in was so thick that I only saw one of the bulls that week (it was on the western side of the unit next to a creek that was very still). I don't want to go into too much detail and give away someone's spot, just enough hopefully to let you know that I'm not making up BS. I am going back the week of Thanksgiving by myself to hopefully fill my tag. Any other year I would eat the tag but this has taken me 9 years to draw and a lot of $. In the future I won't wait this long to draw and will be going with a general tag. With it being Thanksgiving I will not have anyone going with me. I am bringing a 4 wheeler this time to get better access to some of the smaller/rougher roads in the unit. And so I don't take the chance of getting my truck stuck while on my own (I already have chains for my truck just in case). I plan on hunting the 2 different drainages in the Wick wildlife area since they extended the access to the end of November. Any suggestions on how to hunt late season elk in unit 11 would be greatly appreciated. Or maybe more importantly what not to do or where not to go if there is heavy snow.
Thank you
