I live in CO but grew up in PA/VA. I hunted whitetails constantly growing up and had great success. I moved out to CO as fast as I could mainly because I wanted to hunt elk (lol).

I have only been able to hunt elk 6 of the 10 years I've lived here for various reasons...

1st Time - We hunted 561, 2nd rifle, near Salida. We had bull licenses. We saw quite a few cows that week but never a bull. Honestly, looking back, I think it was just dumb luck that the cows walked on top of us...

2nd Time - Unit 79, 3rd rifle, near Monte Vista/Sagauche. Once again, we had bull licenses. We saw a few cows from a LONG way away but that was it. We realized this season that we had no idea what we are doing, nor how to find the buggers. Is it a matter of glassing or just burning leather?

3rd Time - Unit 79, 3rd rifle, same place as before. We ended up getting SLAMMED by 2-3' feet of snow while we were there. Travel far from camp was difficult to say the least. We hunted east of Boot Mountain and never saw an elk.

4th Time - Unit 79, 3rd rifle, just north of South Fork. It was HOT this time and we were only able to hunt 2 days. We hunted a few creeks north of South Fork and then Boot Mountain. Once again, did not see an elk. We talked to a guy who killed one - said it was the only elk he had seen all week. I never saw another hunter.

5th Time - Unit 76, 3rd rifle, near Creede. We moved to 76 thinking we'd get into elk more since we'd be moving west and further into the migrating herds. Laughable. We had a good bit of snow early in the week but never saw an elk. To be quite honest, we didn't scout the area and had NO idea about migration paths. We did see tons of mule deer and 15+ moose.

6th Time - Unit 76, 3rd rifle, same as before. This was THIS year. We went up on Thurs, hunted the north/east end of the unit (this unit is huge). We found a FEW tracks/scat that were 3-4 days old at best. It was 60+ degrees for most of the week. We did get a bit of snow late in the week but it seemed like it was too little too late. No elk/deer/moose.

Our time in 76 was tough. It is a huge unit and I feel like we were throwing darts at a board trying to figure out where to hunt. I talked to a few locals/hunters/biologists - nothing they told me seemed to be worth anything. "Hunt fern creek". OK, yeah, sure. I walked and glassed that burned out hole for 3 days w/o any sign.

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So, I'm sitting here feeling defeated and am wondering what I can do for next year. We're not lazy - we hunt (ie go for a freaking walk!) hard. We get up early, hike - we don't road hunt. We did 5+ miles last Mon w/o even cutting a track. We went up above tree line, well into deep snow - never saw tracks. We went low, nothing.

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc.? Last year I asked for help putting my dad on a cow as it would likely be his last time coming out. Well, we failed & luckily he was able to come out this year again. He hung out at camp mostly - except for short (less than a mile) hikes. Now, I'm getting to the point where I'm frustrated that I can't even SEE an elk. My oldest son (9yo) is getting to where he doesn't even believe me that elk are out there! lol.

Shall we start a support forum? Ya know, for those who don't know what the heck they are doing?

-NA