Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Colorado 371??

I'm thinking about 1st rifle for unit 371. I've backpacked quite a bit, and wondered how crowded this unit gets. I want to hunt away from the pumpkin patch. Also, thinking of unit 14, but draw odds don't look too great!

captfletch:

Several years ago, I did some recreational hiking, backpacking and climbing in GMU 371 area. South of Green Mountain Reservoir, there are no roads going west from highway 9 into the mountains, and no vehicle access to public land. There are only a couple of public access hiking trails that penetrate through the private land to the public land. All the land adjacent to the highway is private and most land owners don't allow hunting. Once you get onto the public land, it's all real steep. OTC bull tags are valid in unit 371 and you can draw either sex tags or cow tags without any points. But overall hunter success is only 15%. That's because the access to public land is poor and the elk hang out on private property where you can't shoot them. I use to drive highway 9 a lot during hunting season and it was common to see herds of elk hanging out near the highway. It would be a tough backpack hunt and tough packing out elk on your back. But if you are young enough and strong enough to go there, you might discover that there aren't many other hunters and you might find elk near the Forest Service/private land boundary.

GMU 14 is the same and different. There is good vehicle access to public land and once you get there it's relatively easy backpacking country. So you will see lots of other hunters there, even far from the roads. OTC bull tags are valid there and you can draw E-E and E-F tags with zero points. I hunted that country for five years when I owned a cabin in North Park. Overall hunter success is only 17% because the elk run onto private land there also. The only difference is that there, you can hunt on private property if you have a thick wallet.

KC

Thanks KC, I considered unit 24, but from what I've heard there's quite a few elk, but almost as many hunters. The wallet is a little thin, so, it'll definately be a DIY on public land. There is so much land in CO that I haven't explored, a little overwhelming. I lived in the springs for 6 years and spent most of my time around Leadville and Gunnison. North Park was too far to drive. Now we're up in Fort Collins and South Park is too far away.