Wonderful writeup and great photos! Thanks for sharing.
I've never hunted that far north for elk in Colorado. How does that country divide up for elk hunting between public and private land? Is there that much public ground, and does the public land typically provide good elk hunting?
Also, how difficult (or expensive) is it to obtan permission or access to the private areas such as you hunted?
Timberline �
All good questions.
I�ve been hunting Unit 4 almost every year since 1982. Lots of elk and public land in the area, forest, BLM and state. (You have to be careful about the state land, however, as some has the hunting rights leased out. Check with the Chamber of Commerce in Craig � during hunting season they have a person that can answer land use questions.)
Most of my time in Unit 4 has been spent camping and hunting in Routt National Forest but since 2000 I�ve been camping lower � either on BLM land or, the last three years when Daughter #2 has been with us, at an RV park in Baggs, Wyoming. Camping lower has an advantage in that you have more mobility. Since starting to do that we have spent more time hunting Unit 4�s BLM lowlands and different areas within Routt, to good effect. Unit 3 is just across Highway 13 and has a lot of BLM land. It can be good if the migration is on, otherwise it is pretty much a waste of time. I always get a tag for Unit 4 and occasionally a second one that is good in Unit 3 as well (usually a bull tag but this year a leftover cow tag). There is excellent public land hunting available in Unit 4, from Routt National Forest down to the BLM lands, depending on where the elk are.
There are two RFW (Ranching For Wildlife) ranches in Unit 4 � Three Forks and Snake River. Three Forks is highly recommended but it is more a harvest than a hunt with success rates approaching 100%. Snake River also has a high success rate, around 78% last time I checked, but it is more a do-it-yourself hunt � they will guide you to an area of your choice, familiarize you with the property boundaries, and then leave you alone. Because they are RFW ranches, the elk tags cost no more than normal � about $49. The caveat is you must be a Colorado resident to get a RFW license.
Last year, because my hip was making it very difficult to walk, I inquired several places about trespass fees. They ranged from $0 to $100 for doe deer to $300 to $500 and up for elk, depending on the property, whether you wanted a cow or a bull and whether or not other hunters were still on the property (prices went down if all the hunters for the particular season had already tagged out). I ended up on private property where the other hunters were already gone. In an area with a 40-1 cow-to-bull ratio, I saw a calf and a 1-1/2 year old cow, both of which I passed on since I wanted a mature adult cow, and nine nice bulls. Go figure.
