I picked up a leftover tag for this unit either sex- will be doing the hunt by myself Solo DiY backpacking in up high. I have a few drainages picked out and am looking forward to getting to CO. Anyone else hunting this unit this year?

Looks like no one is hunting that unit OR no one is willing to share info. Here's what I know.

I've never hunted the west side of the Sangres but I've hiked it several times in the process of climbing the mountains. I've seen small herds of elk a couple of times and several respectable bulls and one really big bull. They were all in the Deadman Creek drainage near the springs.

But that area presents some difficult challenges. You can't go in from the west because it's private property. I hiked over Music Pass, past Lower Sand Creek Lake and over the shoulder of Tijeras Peak to climb Cleveland Peak and I went through the Eye of the Needle and over Milwaukee Peak to climb Pico Asilado.

Those are pretty difficult routes and it's one thing to hike like that when one is climbing and another thing altogether to go that way while carrying out an elk.

KC

KC - now that description sounds like the place to hunt elk!

Brado - any tags left? I'll go wif' ya.....

I just checked the list - only PL tags left for first rifle.

KC Thanks for the info- yea its one rugged and steep looking unit thats for sure but thats the beauty of it to me.

CreekWarrior- ill be there if ya want to tag along!

You can get into that country by going to the little town of Crestone and then east to the trail head. Then take the trail to Crestone lake or further north ,there is a road that goes into Cherry lake. Don't know if it goes all the way, but you can get in to NF property.

From the east, you go into Medano Pass and then down the other side.West side is strictly 4wd, but you can get up the pass and the divide is the boundary of 82 and 86 . You go south out of Silvercliff and then take the road west that goes thru Wolf Springs ranch. There is a lot of pressure on that road up to Medano. Lots of ATV's.

I imagine they offered those Either Sex tags to get the elk the edge of Sand Dunes NP. Last year they were looking for public input of what to do with the elk herds in the valley floor. Alamosa might be able to shed some light on it.

I have taken a few elk out of the western edge of 86. 82 would not be my 1st or even 2nd choice of where to go elk hunting. The west side of the Sangres is not as rugged or as steep as the east side.

I've hunted that either sex tag before.
There is good reason that those tags are available.
Sending a PM.

Have received some good general info from some members on here, thank you very much. Anyone else headed to 82 this year or have in the past?

Also anyone know how the cell service is in the Sangre de Crisco's?

[quote=Brado16Also anyone know how the cell service is in the Sangre de Crisco's? [/quote]

Spotty at best.

Sorry haven't been on here in a bit. I was in 82 last year and most of these guys on the forum gave me some good info. There are big bulls in this area. Had a 6x6 at 12 yards last year and didn't have a shot, incredibble hunt. My uncle arrowed a nice 5 x 5 that we never found and we took a cow at the end of the hunt. If you like rough, rugged, and rocky then this is your place. This place will humble alot of people. I am working my way up to a hunt into Deadman in the next few years. I'm headed into 86 this year for a couple of reasons i'm not willing to share on here but if you hear people say elk hunting isn't good in 82/86 it's b/c they havent made the effort to find them. PM me is you want to discuss anything more.

Also, the cell serice is awful. If you come in from the east, you'll cross over Music Pass to get into 82, once you do that it's over. One of the guys in our group was able to get a few texts out around 11,500 but other than that it wasn't happening. Needless to say we're bringing a sat phone in this year.

Brando 16. I am hunting the area in black powder. I will share with you what I find. It is very rugged and I normally see some good bull in there. A lot of work to get one out.

If you're backpacking in, there's plenty of public access on the west side of the Sangres. Major Creek, Cotton Creek, Rio Alto, and San Isabel Creek (all north of Crestone) are drainages that I've been in, either on foot or horseback. You won't have to go all the way to timberline to find elk. Hayden Pass is at the north end of the range and is accessable (by 4wd) from either side.

There is elk hunting south of the Sand Dunes, around (and above) Zapata Falls and on the west side of Blanca Peak, but the elk from the Dunes south tend to bail off the mountain and on to the Valley floor when the shooting starts. Not unusual to see hundreds of elk on the west side of CO 150 during hunting season.

On thing I never tried (but wish I had) was accessing the NF adjacent to the Sand Dunes from the Monument itself. Considering the elk use the Monument as a sanctuary, that area might be worth looking at.

One summer on a DOW sheep count I counted 80 elk between Music Pass and Hudson Branch. All but one small herd were on the unit 82 (sand creek) side. During rifle season it is a different story.

South of Blanca on the Trinchera there is a lot of elk but you will need a RFW tag to hunt that.

Years ago I killed a cow on the Baca but I had special access.

For three summers I lived at the Valley View at Villa Grove and guided groups up to the bat cave there in the evenings. That left me days free to explore the Orient Cr, Garnet Cr, Major Cr, and Black Canyon drainages. I hunted those valleys one weekend but didn't get anything.

Recently I've been climbing the east ridges (86 side) to scout for sheep. In many of those drainages I see elk in the timber on the opposite sides but that all changes during rifle season.

As brayirish indicated, if you aren't seeing animals, it not because the animals aren't there. I killed a nice (3/8" below B&C minimums) mulie buck in Unit 86 in 2007, early rifle season. I saw one herd of elk with a nice bull bringing up the rear. I also watched 3 black bears in that same area. I would take a mule next time...

Check this out on Google Earth

37�46.0'N, 105�37.5'W

There's ice on some of the creeks in the vicinity, so the photo must have been taken in the winter.

KC

All I see is a bunch of building and a fence. What am I looking for?

Bunches of elk. Make sure you copied the coordinates correctly.

KC

I found the elk at coordinates KC.

Wow, that is a herd! Doubt they will be there for 1st season though!

1st season ended 2 weeks ago.