Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Best Colorado Elk Unit

Im a NR with 2 points for Colorado elk. Im planning for 2010 and would like to find the best unit for trophy elk 300+ that I can draw with my 2 points. I can hunt archery, muzzleloader or rifle. Any help or direction would be great.
Thanks
Jeremy Gugelmeyer

Look thru the drawing book and see what you can draw with 2 points in a trophy unit. I am afraid it will be slim pickings but I can't speak without reviewing the draw numbers.

Jeremy:

2 preference points and 300+ B&C. If those are your only criteria, I'm afraid that you are SOL.

Although there's a slim chance that you could kill a 300+ bull in almost any unit, the real chances are somewhere between slim and none, except in the premium units in the NW corner of the state, which are managed to produce trophy bulls. Those units take mucho points to draw. I have 12 points and I may never draw a tag before they put me in a nursing home. A friend and fellow correspondent on this site just drew a tag there and he had 19 points.

I have taken 30 elk in the last thirty years but none have aproached 300 B&C.

KC

Forget it.

Wait until 5 or more points. Most good limited license units during the good seasons are currently requiring 8-14 points to draw a tag. Achery, muzzleloader, or centerfire.

Now that the recession is in full bloom, it will be interesting to see if there are less applications, which will increase the chances...slightly.

But when you have 10,000 applicants for 250 licenses in a given unit for a given season, a 20% drop in applications is only relative........


Casey

Im not looking for a guarantee by any means just looking for units that have potential of producing a 300+ bull.
Here are the units I have found that I can draw or dang near draw with 2 pts according to a hunt odds calculator. Does anybody have any suggestions about any of these. There may be other ones these were just the ones I picked off the map and I don't know anything about them.
Unit 20 archery or rifle
67 rifle
68
86
82
Thanks for any and all help.

GMU 20:
Dominated by Rocky Mountain National Park and private land. The late-late season guided hunts on private land produce big bulls. Having said that, I have a friend who bowhunts a honey hole somewhere in the area between Pingree Park and Cache La Poudre river--but he ain't giving any exact locations. The second biggest bull ever killed in Colorado (~410 points) was taken in the Never Summer Range northwest of the park. But unit 20 is waaaay too close to the I-25 urban corridor for my liking....

GMU 82 and 86:
You'd better be in shape. Lower elevations are private, the upper elevations are the Sangre De Cristo's--steep and rugged. By early October the critters are moving out--even the bighorns. 86 is the east side approached by the Wet Valley. I've archery hunted sheep twice in the early and mid 90's from the west side 82--and it is a rugged momma puppy--mostly a backpacking proposition even for elk. Not a lot of elk in 86, but I have seen some nice bulls while chasing bighorns and big bucks with a bow in August and September. I once had a 325 bull 500 yards below me and a 35 inch bighorn above me while archery hunting. Talk about a dilemma. Needless to say I didn't close to either........

GMU 67:
I grew up hunting elk in 66 and 67 off the Alpine Plateau on public land and private land below. 67 is mostly the Powderhorn country. Plenty of elk on public lands, but not many big ones. Used to be monster bucks in that country though.........

GMU 68:
For the life of me I can't understand why the CDOW even bothered to make 68 into a limited license unit.........

In other words there are reasons why these units are easy to draw. That doesn't mean there are not little "hot spots"/micro-habitats/honey holes that will produce mature bulls in any of these units--I can assure they are there somewhere. But it's a learning curve, and you have to put in a multi-year effort to find them.

I've been at it for 40+ years, and those good spots come and go--it's always a learning curve.

Casey

I would go for the state wide muzzy tag. aint sayin units tho!

Colrado leans towards quantity elk,not quality.It brings in a lot more money.There is a reason why you have to pay $850 for high demand hunts in NM, or hefty fees in Montana and Idaho.

If you want to shoot a big bull pay the big bucks and hunt the northern Gila in NM, or buy a private land tag for some area in CO and pay an outfitter

There is always a chance of taking 300+ bulls on public land,which I assume you wnat to hunt, but as KC said that chance is slim. Im the one who he mentioned had 19 ppoints to draw area 201. Average bulls there are about 320 with a few every year toping 350. They issue 25 tags a year. Now compare that with your 2 points wanting a 300 bull and you see where that puts you.
Hell, most of us are darn glad to be able to hunt elk every year and shoot mediocre ones,or even cows.

I was told 82 and 86 were rough country but I was also told that some of the ranches in that area produce some giant bulls? Any truth to that? Is it too rough to get a horse into?
I 've been in 67 with a friend so I know what its like hows it compare to 82 or 86?

I sure appreciate the help, Im not looking for anybodies honey hole in a unit just trying to gather general info on the units.

I understand wanting to kill a big bull and that is always my intention. That said, I've got a lot of unguided bulls that don't score for crap but which mean the world to me. I remember each detail. I'd draw a muzzleloader tag and go wallow in the glory of the Rockies in September. If you kill a bull it is icing on the cake.

+1 moosemuncher

If this is your first trip to Colorado, save your points and buy a leftover cow tag. Choose an ares and get to know it. I've lived and hunted elk in Co. for many years and have yet to shoot a bull over 300 points.
I find shooting a good cow is just as satisfying to me.

A gun writer once said that any public land bull elk is a trophy. I tend to agree.

JV

Jeremy:

Units 82 and 86 are both in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains; 86 is East of the crest and 82 is West of the crest. I've hiked and climbed all over that area and not seen much that is encouraging except in the Dead Man Lakes area. I went in there a few years ago, when you had to hike in from the East, over Music Pass and two mountains after that to get to the Dead Man Lakes. I saw a small herd and there were two very big bulls. But you better have horses or mules if you intend to hunt that area.

Here's a tip that you might want to checkout. The Great Sand Dunes National Monument just aquired a bunch of land to the North and East of the Park, so that they could include the entire drainage system in managed lands. That opens up the way into Dead Man Lakes from the West, which is shorter and not quite as miserable. But you still need horses or mules to get in there. The first few people that hunt that area just may discover that some big bulls have sought refuge there, escaping from areas that are easier to hunt.

KC

As long as you think that way you'll never have a Bad hunt!!! Good Luck

you have gotten a pretty good idea of the steep challenge you face. If you have set your sights on a 300 bull, they are way too high in my opinion.

I have hunted elk in some good areas and some years, you are lucky to even SEE an elk. So unless you can pay to hunt private land, I would suggest you shoot the first legal elk you see. Don't believe the magazine hype or start to think that since you constantly see pictures of big elk on this site, that they are lots out there. ANY elk is a trophy.

You might try and draw a cow tag as a second choice next year and use that trip to scout for a bull on the next hunt.

my reply would be hahahaha... but you've seen the other replies... its just that way. I don't recall but maybe have 4-5 points now, I wouldn't even START to think about something like a 300... hell I'm still relearning/learning elk.... cow tag is high on the list, just use them to learn what to do, while saving points.. THEN get a bull tag.

But you can do it your way too... Can't eat the antlers, but sure would like a decent bull for the wall one of these years...

A NR coming into area 20 will be HIGHLY disappointed. It has taken me years to learn the unit. Alot of private, RMNP boundry's to deal with, only the west half of the unit is elk habitat the rest is people habitat. The known huntable areas are going to be packed with folks just like you. It takes some research and time to get into the areas away from company.

I would lower your expectations when you come to Colorado and say if I kill any elk it will be a good hunt. You come out here with 300" inches in mind and it's going to be a long trip.


For that fella's talking about Cache Le Poudre and Pingree park that is area 19. He is right there are some hawgs that come out of there.

the troublesome basin produces what you are looking for. the nevere summers are also a good bet but you might not even see a elk, becauses theres nothing easy about that country. The sangre de cristos also produce what you are looking for, but its the roughest [bleep] colorado has to offer, If you set a hunt for that area you might not be looking for a 300 inch bull, but you also might be lucky to get out alive!!(thats no understatment)A 300 inch bull is not going to be easy to find in any colorado unit, but then again there is proably one in every unit in colorado. The flattops have produced 300inch elk, but they are damn tough to come by up there. I would focus on the troublesome basin and head over and check out elkheaven.com, do some research and you might get lucky.

+100