24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 4 of 4 1 2 3 4
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 81
P
Campfire Greenhorn
Offline
Campfire Greenhorn
P
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 81
mu cousin who live in CO took down two elks last year, besides squirrels, deers....not too bad.

BP-B2

Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 4,212
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 4,212
Originally Posted by huntsman1k
mu cousin who live in CO took down two elks last year, besides squirrels, deers....not too bad.


That settles it once and for all.

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,744
B
Campfire Tracker
Online Content
Campfire Tracker
B
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,744
I saw five "really huge coyotes" while hunting antelope in Unit 3 last fall. I watched them with binoculars from about a third of a mile. This was just 13 miles south of the Wyo border.

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,118
S
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
S
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,118
I have a friend that shot a wolf probably a little over 20 years ago about 10 miles past Rustic, CO, which is on the road outside Ft. Collins on the way to Walden. He was lion hunting and came across two wolves taking down a deer and managed to shoot one of them. He called DOW and asked if there were any wolves in CO., of course they said no, so he asked them to come by and see if what he shot wasn't a wolf. They took one look and said "yep, thats a wolf". We had been seeing wolf tracks for a couple of years in that country. We figured what was happening was there was this guy that had a "hospice" or shelter that took in 7/8 wolf hybrids from people that decided they didn't want them. You'd drive by his place and sometimes he'd have 4 or 5 and the next time you drove by his pen would be empty. No proof but we figured he was just turning them loose up there.

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22,734
B
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
B
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22,734
Originally Posted by BeanMan
I saw five "really huge coyotes" while hunting antelope in Unit 3 last fall. I watched them with binoculars from about a third of a mile. This was just 13 miles south of the Wyo border.



Hah! There is difference between the "party line" and reality. Apparently those CO wolves couldn't read the signs when they left WY! Sounds like the same situation for the wolves who didn't read they were leaving Jellystone Park.

Last edited by bigwhoop; 05/17/17.

My home is the "sanctuary residence" for my firearms.
IC B2

Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 4,859
E
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
E
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 4,859
Originally Posted by alpinecrick
Total lack of snow.

It RAINED at 9400 ft in NOVEMBER up at our high country place. That was a first for me in 55 years of elk hunting that I can recall. Friggin' Al Gore and his Global Warming anyway.......


Casey

X2

Our base is at 8600 ft.

It rained on us too during the third rifle season the first night. Guys we're moving cots in the cabin to avoid the showerhead above their beds in the ceiling. First time it ever rained on us there in 20+ years hunting the ranch. We were re-roofing the roof the last day with roll roofing.


"He is far from Stupid"

”person, who happens to have an above-average level of intelligence


– DocRocket (In reference to ElkSlayer91)



Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,313
L
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
L
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,313
Originally Posted by Tanner
Everybody wants to kill elk until it's time to put your pack and boots on and go where elk are.

Tanner


This is the basic issue. In my entire life I've never once seen an elk from a road where it could be hunted (Estes park is different). In a warm weather season like last year, you simply have to put on your boots and climb up to the elevation where the elk are. If you don't want to do that, you didn't want to shoot an elk very bad after all.

Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,781
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,781
My wife's statement after hunting in CO: "hiking with a rifle"


"I didn't realize we had so many snipers in this country." by J23
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 482
L
Campfire Member
Offline
Campfire Member
L
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 482
Too many licenses given out the last six or so years...at least in some units. My guess is that it was more than a few units.

I went to Unit 54 last year during muzzleloader season; Soap Mesa area. Hadn't been there since 2010. Used to be a mecca of elk, now the population in Unit 54 has been reduced by over 50% by the DOW. That was by design according to what the DOW said in several magazines I got in Gunnison before going to make camp. These were the free "tourist" magazines they give out in town but they were hunting issues because it was Fall. They wanted to reduce the herd size because of landowners complaining about elk eating their hay/feed in the winter so they ramped up the license sales. Now they cut back but the damage is done. And the DOW even admitted in the article they might have went too far.

So, the area around Soap Mesa anyway was nearly devoid of elk. Several camps up on top, probably 10 guys or so and all of two animals were taken in the muzzleloader season off of Soap Mesa; and very few overall were sighted by the hunters camped up there. I made it up on top a couple of times (didn't have horses this time and I can't climb quite as good as I used to). Did not see a single animal and virtually no sign. In all the previous ML seasons I hunted up there (2003-2010) the elk were thick; I always got a shot (didn't always make the shot though) and would always see at least several dozen animals each year. Heck in 2003 I probably saw 150+ elk on that mesa.

Sadly, I won't be going back to Soap Mesa again. It was a wonderful place to camp and hunt, but lust for $$$ in the form license sales and lower restitution costs has ruined that unit. They did the same thing to unit 55 but didn't devastate the herd quite as bad (according to their figures). Guess I'll go back to hunting there.


You see in this world, there's two kinds of people my friend; those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.



Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 26,101
A
Campfire Ranger
Online Content
Campfire Ranger
A
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 26,101
Originally Posted by Larry in Colorado
Too many licenses given out the last six or so years...at least in some units. My guess is that it was more than a few units.

I went to Unit 54 last year during muzzleloader season; Soap Mesa area. Hadn't been there since 2010. Used to be a mecca of elk, now the population in Unit 54 has been reduced by over 50% by the DOW. That was by design according to what the DOW said in several magazines I got in Gunnison before going to make camp. These were the free "tourist" magazines they give out in town but they were hunting issues because it was Fall. They wanted to reduce the herd size because of landowners complaining about elk eating their hay/feed in the winter so they ramped up the license sales. Now they cut back but the damage is done. And the DOW even admitted in the article they might have went too far.

So, the area around Soap Mesa anyway was nearly devoid of elk. Several camps up on top, probably 10 guys or so and all of two animals were taken in the muzzleloader season off of Soap Mesa; and very few overall were sighted by the hunters camped up there. I made it up on top a couple of times (didn't have horses this time and I can't climb quite as good as I used to). Did not see a single animal and virtually no sign. In all the previous ML seasons I hunted up there (2003-2010) the elk were thick; I always got a shot (didn't always make the shot though) and would always see at least several dozen animals each year. Heck in 2003 I probably saw 150+ elk on that mesa.

Sadly, I won't be going back to Soap Mesa again. It was a wonderful place to camp and hunt, but lust for $$$ in the form license sales and lower restitution costs has ruined that unit. They did the same thing to unit 55 but didn't devastate the herd quite as bad (according to their figures). Guess I'll go back to hunting there.


1. It was all about the weather.

2. CPW has been reducing elk herds in overpopulated units for some years now. Finally down to where they should be in most (but not all) units.


Casey


Casey

Not being married to any particular political party sure makes it a lot easier to look at the world more objectively...
Having said that, MAGA.
IC B3

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 19,029
S
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
S
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 19,029
Originally Posted by tmax264
I saw a couple hundred on private land less than 5 miles from our camp. But without access and the other hundred grazing the soccer fields in Crested Butte we didn't have any luck.


They were on the Castleton Ranch then.

Here is what I heard at the meeting the other night from a guy that was at the Gunnison meeting the week before.

Several years ago there were 7-8000 elk in Unit 54.The CPW said that was too many. So they issued those 500w/cap either sex tags for a few years that cut the number down to 3-4000 thousand so then they only issued those 500 w/cap bull tags for two years. Since there were fewer elk and the ones that were left ended up on the private ranch along Ohio creek hunters said screw it and went elsewhere.Locals complained saying they want 6000 or so and want the hunters back ( They didn't like losing that money I guess).

So this year CPW is selling OTC bull tags,unlimited. There are still only 3000 or so elk in the unit, and 800 or so get onto the private ranch pretty fast. The OTC ploy is to get more hunters back. So if you are planning on hunting Unit 54 this year,especially the eats side, don't expect to see more elk, but probably more hunters. Local businesses will like that though


If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 534
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 534
I'm though with 54 - haven't been hunting there in years. Yeah, sure lotsa elk in pre-season scouting/hiking roaming about, but as soon as the string-twangers and the smoke-pole hunters arrive most of the population hop the fence to safety.

By the time the rifle seasons start up there are too few animals that remain in the 'public' domain. This happens on the other GMUs i've hunted as well, but doesn't seem as dramatic as in 54.

Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,259
G
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
G
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,259
Originally Posted by Tanner
Everybody wants to kill elk until it's time to put your pack and boots on and go where elk are.

Tanner



Dropping truth bombs right there.


RLTW
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 663
T
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
T
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 663
You are absolutely right Tanner but if you need to be in the same physical shape as a marathoner to get there then it loses some of its luster. I've lived in CO/hunted area 55 for twenty years and the first decade was decent hunting. The last 5 years have been crap. I'm about to the stage of giving up my annual donation to the DOW and advising the rest of my group to do likewise. I will go hunting because my brother and I use it as a family reunion to get away for a week but we don't expect success. Like the gent earlier in the thread opined; I'm ready to save my money and pay a guide/trespass fee if I feel the need to get another elk. Hell, I haven't seen anything but raghorns for the past decade dead or alive. I honestly have seen mulie racks as big as a lot of the elk racks I've seen carried out the last several years.


An armed member in a country is a citizen, an unarmed member is a subject.
Page 4 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
740 members (10gaugemag, 02bfishn, 12308300, 11point, 10Glocks, 12344mag, 86 invisible), 2,742 guests, and 1,296 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,700
Posts18,399,968
Members73,820
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.188s Queries: 15 (0.004s) Memory: 0.8704 MB (Peak: 1.0000 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 23:59:53 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS