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

Hey so I am new, 1st post new. Not new to hunting, but I am new to Elk Hunting. I have several units I am looking at for OTC right now, units 74,65 and 63 in 1st preference order. A little a bit about myself, I am a fire fighter and work out most of my time. I have kids so they are a work out on its own as well, I love camping and mostly hunting. I watch my buddy bring back an elk from colorado and spent less than 1k total which blew me away. I have hunted whitetail and the prices here in Texas are just out of this world. I am thinking about unit 74, due to the statistics it has the highest success rate out of all of em. I know its my first hunt so Im not expecting anything at all except for a sweet camping trip but I do want an opportunity to connect with something. I want to stay in Miners Camp Ground and go east to Silver Mountain, my buddy connected at 54 but wants to try 74 as well so he will come with me. Together we have gear, guns, glass and stamina (I know will be tested but were ready. What do yall think about this idea?

Elk hunting is like a drug, once started you will never want to stop.
If you fail to heed this warning, you will find yourself addicted and most likely you will pass the addiction on to your kids.
You have been warned , so I can only wish you luck.

Where there is a will, wisdom will find a way. Sounds to me you are doing your home work. You have a buddy that has already ,been there and done that. There are guys on here that know the areas and will probably give you some pointers. Hope it all works out for you. Good luck.

They don't come any better.

Thanks guys, if anything it will be a pretty sweet camping trip. All in all I cant go wrong being in the mountains. I came back from Breck a month ago and i fell in love lol.

2 things I learned when living in Colorado:
1. Pre-scouting is meaningless. Very easy to find elk out of hunting seasons and not so easy during hunting season as in I never ever saw one over the several seasons I hunted there.

2. You cannot learn the density of hunters in pre-season scouting. When you think you found a good accessible hunting area, everyone else who is upright with a pulse found it before you and is waiting for you to arrive.

I never grew up with this type of hunting so it was extremely demoralizing for me, as it taught me in one lesson, the difference between a population of 20 million that largely does not hunt compared to the US.

As a total failure, the best advice I can give is to use any hunters you see as a driving tool to the most inaccessible places you can find. I hunted Aussie deer by seeking out the nastiest of landscape and using ears and eyes instead of feet. The dark timber is the equivalent in elk country. Pockets of shelter, shade and adjacent to feed areas is where I would scour.
John

Welcome to the fire. It appears to me that you've done your homework and have realistic expectations. You seem to already know that elk hunting percentages are lower than deer in most states. Lots of people DIY elk hunt in Colorado and some with consistently good results. You seem to recognize the importance of physical conditioning but there is no way to prepare for the altitude. The best advice I can give you about that is to stay hydrated and if you drink alcohol do it very sparingly. I had some guys up working on a fire a few years ago and I kept telling them they weren't drinking enough water. We ended up sending two of them to the ER for IV's. What I didn't know was how much beer there were knocking back every night. We're coming up on the deadline for license drawings, you might want to consider applying for a cow tag. You may not have a chance in hell of drawing, but you will gain a preference point you can use in future years. I wish you good luck and I can't speak to the units your considering, I've never hunted in them. There are lots of us here who can help you with general questions and will be happy to help. CH
P.S. Aussie Gun Writer's advice is spot on. All scouting will do is allow you to see the country, not bad thing, but don't expect what you find as far as critter's to be the same when the sun rises on opening day, it'll be a new world.

Keep trying.

Yes physical conditioning is huge in our department and it has become just a part of our life thanks to it. I found out how elevation can be at Breck when we took a ride up to 13k ft and was sucking air harder than I ever imagined lol. But since last month I have been adding alot of leg excersices to help aliviate any issues there And I bought a high altitude mask to train with. I hardly drink anymore which makes me sad but I just dont have time nor the money, id rather go elk hunting than drink beer like I use to.

ballfroguy:

I sent you a PM containing an article regarding elk hunting in Colorado. The other repeat participants on this forum are tired of reading it, but there might be some useful info for you.

KC

bfg - read KC's article and do what he recommends - he won't steer you wrong and will save you a bunch on the ole learning curve.

Thank you. I dont mind some good reading!

Good advice here but I would not write off pre-season trips 100%. The thing they're good for is to get you familiar with the country, access, places you can camp, etc.

But once the season starts, even in a place you've hunted before and know well the number of hunters that will be in any given area is hard to predict.

This is why (IMHO) it's very important to have a few different areas scouted out--if one has too many hunters one year, go on to the next.

Sounds like you have a plan. Your first season in an area will have a steep learning curve. Any chance to get out there in advance and look for long term elk sign (well used trails, old rubs and wallows) will be beneficial. If you see an area, such as a large bench in black timber, that looks like too much work to get there, that's probably where you want to go.

I have hunted both 74 and 65, between the 2, 65 is better. 74 is tougher hunt at least where we hunted. both of these are tough by Colorado standards by the DOW we contacted. the higher the success units the less public ground. I started going in 87 and it ruins you for any other hunting. make sure you have a hand held GPS and go have some fun. don't forget to have chains for all 4 tires.

Will you please PM that article to as well? Thank you.

PVT:

It's on the way.

KC

Do you have access to a long flight of stairs? If so start pounding on them now. I mean until your legs are on FIRE. Then repeat daily until your trip. And many times hiking back DOWN the mountain is the really hard part! Good luck out there!!!

KC, I would also be interested in reading the article if you would be so kind to send it to me. Thanks.

The check is in the mail.