I should get drawn for 1st rifle season. I'm a DIY, public land backpack hunter. Are there places you can get away from the crowds? What do you know about the elk population in this area? I've chased mule deer a couple times in NM. 1st go round for elk. Can't wait - will likely do a scouting trip this summer. Thanks for your input.

I did get drawn - outstanding! Just learned the two highest mountains of CO are in GMU 48. Did not know that. For the 1st season, got any suggestions on type of terrain to begin the exploration for a mature elk? I hope to be able to scout in mid-July just to get familiar with the access points and scope out some areas of interest. Thanks for any input.

I hunted mountain goats there three years ago. I setup a base camp at Elbert Creek Campground, which has a good restroom right across the road, at the Mount Elbert Trailhead.

If I had an elk tag for that season, I could have killed a 5x5 bull in the vicinity of North Halfmoon Lakes.

There was another herd hanging around the foothills on the east flanks of Mount Massive near Willow Creeks. That herd spent part of it's time on private land just east of the National Forest boundary, so you would want to get to know the land owner on your scouting trip. It had dissappeared by Monday after opening weekend. My guess is that herd went up onto the shoulders of Mount Elbert because I did most of my hunting on the east side of Mount Massive and I didn't see any sign of them.

There's an old road that follows South Halfmoon Creek up into the high valley on the NW side of Mount Elbert. You don't want to try to cross the creek in your pickup, so you want to take and ATV with a winch, to help you get across the creek. They are legal on that road. You could drive the ATV to the end of the South Elbert Creek Road, setup a base camp and backpack in from there. That strategy gets you high into the mountains where you probably won't see anyone else. If you don't own an ATV, you can rent one from a place north of Leadville.

Good luck and safe hunting.

KC

One more thing. Remember when backpack hunting, you will have to carry out what you kill. An elk hind quarter weighs 80# or more. If you get a bull, it will take at least four, probably five or maybe six trips to haul him out, so you don't want to get too far back in there.

One thing good about hunting on Mount Massive or Mount Elbert is that everything is downhill from your kill site.

KC

Here's the story of my goat hunt

2005 Mountain Goat Hunt

Congratulation bbright. You have selected one of the more rugged areas for your hunt, get in shape. If you go to http://www.summitpost.org/ and click on "ranges and areas" below the main banner, next page comes up,showing all the mountain ranges of the world, you will see two boxes under the main banner, areas and ranges in the first box, and the second box is empty, type Colorado in the second box, hit Go. Next page will show all of Colorado's mountain ranges. Scroll down to the Sawatch range. Click, this page will show northern, central, southern Sawatch range. The Central Sawatch is yourarea of intrest for unit 48. The photos will show the ruggedness of the area, the info will give you helpful information on trailheads and more. Lots to research there. Good luck on your hunt. Unit 481 is south of unit 48, Mt Yale and Mt Princeton fall in unit 481 I believe, please check Colo Dow unit boundaries. Good Luck o your hunt, hope this helps you. HH in Pa

Thanks so much KC and HH. I've got topo maps on order. After some "map strat-e-gery," I may need to pick your brain a little more. KC, What time of year was your goat hunt? That must be a very gratifying experience. The terrain sure looks intimidating but I can't wait to be humbled by it. Just hope the altitude sickness thing doesn't affect either of us. We'll be as ready as flatlanders can be. Our goal will be to enjoy the time and fellowship working our butts off in some beautiful country making every effort possible to give ourselves a chance. We're on a steep learning curve with these D-I-Y hunts on public land but it sure is a fun journey. Thanks again for your insight and suggestions.

bb:

The goat hunt started on a Saturday in October, I think the 10th or 11th. That time of year we can get any kind of weather from deep snow and very cold to warm and dry.

There's much worse terrain in Colorado than that which you will find on Mounts Massive and Elbert. Sure everything is high elevation, but it's not too rocky and the slopes, although they are not gentle, they have a pretty uniform plain. There's some places where the deadfall can cause a problem but most of the dark timber is pretty walkable.

I didn't see many meadows or much sage but I spent most of my time above timberline and there are lots of broad leaf forbes in the tundra so it's good forage for elk. I didn't see any elk above timberline though. They may have been feeding at night, so you might have luck snooping around the edges of timber at the upper timberline.

If I were you, I would study my USGS maps and try to find a meadow with an isolated spring half way up the mountain. That would be my best guess as to where I would look first.

The best way to avoid acute mountain sickness is to be in good cario-vascular condition to begin with, come a couple of days early and just lay around and rest so you can aclimatize, then be sure to drink lots of water because dehydration is associated with most high altitude maladies.

KC

Found out that I got drawn for Sept 15 General Region H Wyoming Mule deer. I don't think I can swing both Wy deer and CO Elk. I'm leaning towards GMU 48 for elk. Am I crazy for taking a pass on Reg H deer in Wy?

I don't know anything about deer hunting in WY. So can't advise you regarding choosing between CO elk or WY deer.

Sorry.

KC

BB,

I don't know a whole lot about WY deer either, but from what I do know I think Region H is a pretty darn good place to find a nice buck. Tough decision! I suppose it would depend on which animal you think you want more. Myself, I've shot enough big elk but too few big deer, so I'd probably opt for the WY hunt. However, I know lots of people lust after a big bull elk. Unfortunately, it seems a guy always draws his most sought after tags at the same time, rather than only one a year!
You might try putting this same post over on the General Big Game section since there are a number of guys that hang out there from WY and might be able to tell you more about the WY tag and what your odds of getting another one would be and what the chances are of running into a trophy.
Good luck,
Test

As my buddy can only do the CO hunt Oct 11-15, I'm committed to that hunt for sure. Now trying to decide if I should solo the Wy Region H for mule deer (Sept 15 - ?). Great problem to have but you're right, wish the tags could get spread out a little. I'll take your advice and post on the General Big Game section.
BB