Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting New Guy... DIY elk hunt in Colorado!

Please purchase a bugle! We have to keep those call manufacturers flush. And its a good warning sound to veteran hunters that you're in the area.

I personally haven't met a rifle hunter who believes elk bugling unless they physically see the bull making the sound. The majority of bugles during rifle seasons are other hunters following poor internet/magazine/forum advice.

No place in the Colorado rifle seasons for bugling unless you are hunting private land.

Techniques....I'd suggest only using a cow call in rifle season if you have a visual on the elk and are trying to stop them for a shot. Otherwise leave it in your pocket until you actually see elk.

Pressured elk (during rifle season) make very little noise unless they are in a big herd, or just got busted out of cover by a threat. Generally they keep fairly quiet and are not very responsive to calling. There are always exceptions, and mine is just one opinion.

KC if you don't mind id like the article as well, a young friend is making his first trip this year.

I carry a cow call but don't use it in normal conditions 3rd season. The gutless method is the only way to go, faster and much easier for one person.

Check to see if there are leftover cow tags at the end of this month if you want to bring home meat. The leftover drawing is one that you have very good odds of drawing. I take the hide off as fast as i can after i lost some meat that was laying hide on in the snow.

The suggestion of having several targeted areas is a good one. If you see a fresh bull track heading for the thick stuff always assume he is still in there and alert - that sound of opportunity leaving when you crack a twig isn't a good one.

One of the keys to success for my partners and I has been mobility.

When I first started hunting we would go high and set up camp, then hunt within a few 2-3 miles of camp. Success rates were low.

Then we started camping lower and driving further to hunt. Success rates sky-rocketed because we could hunt where the elk were rather than where we were.

For me the purpose of pre-season scouting is to familiarize myself with the lay of the land. Couple that with information available online about migration routes and general knowledge of elk needs and habits and you can often predict where the elk will go when hunting pressure moves them and weather gets the migration going. We've taken quite a few elk in open sage country when they were migrating through.

So did you draw 74?
All-in-all I think unit 74 is one of the most interesting locations in Colorado. However, I’m a little surprised to hear that it looks good for statistic success.

For more than 15 years Unit 74 was the go-to area for my group each year. Years ago when 74 was moved from the B-list to the A-list we all felt it was no longer the best option for us and we’ve been Nomadic since then. My guys felt there were still a lot of places in Colorado that we had not explored. Unit 74 rewards those who earn it but it is no panacea.

I have taken an elk on the Dry Creek Trail that you asked about and also one on the Colorado Trail nearby. Be aware that Dry Creek Trail is a major equestrian hunting departure point and the Colorado trail will have mountain bike traffic. These are wide, well-used trails. I’ve also taken elk in Perrins Peak area, the Strawberry patch, Graysill ridge, Hermosa Peak, Dutch Creek, Junction Creek.

The places where we’ve had the most success and the places I would recommend are not the same. I’ll explain.
Two herds are identified in 74, the Hermosa Creek herd numbers several thousand and the Strawberry patch herd is several hundred (of course neither really forms up until late in the migration process). Bear in mind that since this unit is so far south there will always be some of the small family groups that will remain independent of those herds. There was traditionally a predictable late season migration that passed through that Dry Creek area you are considering hunting (and Junction Creek). Sadly, an enormous amount of development along 160 and a series of warm dry winters might have really changed that by now. I wonder how many of that current generation of elk still have that migration path imprinted. A lot of the success that we had early on was from early storms or by intercepting the elk migrations. I killed numerous elk in Perrins Peak, Strawberry patch, and Junction creek but timing is critical in those places. In our later years there we found that getting to the higher altitudes was a much more reliable and dependable way get into elk. The high altitude strategy has been reinforced further since we’ve been hunting new areas each year. Nothing separates you from other hunters like climbing and the elk live by that. The Miners Cabin/Silver Mountain area I hunted only one evening and I did spook out an elk but have no further experience there. If I was to return to 74 (and I hope to one day) I’d check out Coal Bank, Molas, Hermosa Peak, Pando, Big Lick, Jura Knob, and the area above Silverton. Those are all places that are likely to have elk in their home range and not too many other hunters. Places like Big Lick and Jura Knob are places where you could put in a spike camp and have a reasonable chance at success every day but I would not recommend that strategy. You could have a luxurious camp near your vehicle at Molas, Hermosa Park, Hotel Draw, or Lime Creek and be able to check out several very cool areas in the week or so you would be there. Unit 74 is a unit where it really is nice to do afternoon and evening hunts in a variety of places because there is so much to experience there.
Keep a camera handy.
I hope it is for you what it was for me.