Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Which week for bow season?

In a desparate effort to get back to my roots and see less hunters, I'm trying to plan a 4-5 day bow trip to northern CO for cow elk with an over the counter tag. (I got a first season gun bull tag - I think that's what it is based the CO back door results.) Bow season lasts about a month and third week overlaps with muzzleloader season. I've hunted opening day/week of archery before it was a cluster, though it was in a different area. Do I go for the second week or fourth week? Or brave the opening weekend crowds? Not interested in being in the woods with the smoke pole guys.

Thanks!

If I was going for a bull, I'd make it the 4th week because that's usually when the rut is strongest. Since you're going for a cow, I'd go the week before muzzleloader season. They'll be less skittish and closer to the road.

If you don't want ML season and 1st season is too crowded for you.That pretty much narrows it down to the last two weeks.

For cows though, I'd still be looking for the1st season.Surely there is a spot you can find with a little research that has fewer hunters.
Personally,I see a whole lot more archers in ML season than I see ML hunters

I guess it depends if your going to hunt..... or for your rifle hunt

The rifle hunt is our main hunt and likely a bull tag (my first choice) so the archery hunt has to be a B-list cow tag. That's an interesting thought about the animals being less skittish early on. Just easier to find them if they make noise. We've been hunting this area for five years now with good success in rifle seasons (except last year), so the plan is to archery hunt the same area, with the premise that there will be less hunters. The other issue is that my buddy has never archery hunted and I want to get him hooked, so just seeing/hearing animals would be great.

I like as late as possible in the september archery season. I would also take a look at the moon phase during the hunt period. Just based upon my experience hunting elk during rut during full moon was tough as the majority animals seemed to be more active at night during a full moon and were only active the first hour or so of daylight and would bed down. The bulls I would see mid day were hanging close to bedded cows or were bedded them selves. Just something to consider.

Have noticed this my 40 years of archery hunting whitetail rut too. Warm weather plus the full moon made hunting during the rut tough at times.

Now I have a buddy that does well hunting in the beginning of season and says it makes a difference hunting the first few days of season because elk are not that pressured yet and bulls were not as call shy. Who knows?

Bring a pair of elk shed to bang around, scrape trees during calling sequences . Seems to get bulls to comitt and come in better imo

That's good advice but he will be hunting cows. I'll be bowhunting bulls this fall so the last week in September is when we'll be out there but if I was hunting cows I'd think hard about getting out there the week before muzzleloader season when the animals are less disturbed and easier to move in on.

D-oh my bad

Cows- get in early as possible when less pressured unless you know area very well and know their travel routes and bedding feeding areas when pressured

Does not hurt to soltly cow call when still hunting. A few calls every 20 to 30 minutes

Is there a reason not to hunt more of the archery season than one week? I like opening week/weekend for cows, I hunt far enough from the road I won't have much competition.

We call opening weekend 'Amateur Weekend' around here. Hills will be covered with guys calling and stirring up the works. I like to wait until the second weekend, things calm down considerably by then.

Not if you live in your neck of the woods. I think the OP said he only had 4-5 days, and he's trying to pick a time slot.