Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting OK Tell me about the Upper Rio Grande

KC,

Both 61 and 76 have early-early seasons starting about the 1st of October. CPW just started these last year (and I'm strongly opposed to it but CPW ignored me ) 20 PP's will get you a license. It's like carrying a rifle during archery season. I would choose those seasons before I would choose one of the northwest units--hands down.

Agree with alpine crick...I went for the 76 early rather than the northwest units and I am very happy that I did. I got the early season with 17 points. The whole thing was great: looking at maps and google earth after the draw, planning, backpacking the drainages in August and September, hanging out in Creede, then packing in that last glorious week of September. I love the high alpine. I love the desert too but for an elk hunt I’ll take the alpine.

My recollection is that CPW started the early season in 61 in 2016, but they have been doing it in 76 for about 10 years.

AlpineC, why the opposition to the early seasons?

My family hunted Unit 76 for 50 years before Colo DOW decided to make it a quality unit. There are not only lots of elk, but some nice bucks. My buddy killed a 171 B&C green scored muley in October in Unit 76. It is disappointing that it takes so many points to draw a license there. In 2005, my father and I stopped on Hwy 149, he hopped the fence, walked 60 yards and killed a 5 point bull. That same year, I picked out a timbered slope, climbed up to it and still hunted across, killing a 6 pointer. That was the last time I hunted there. The elk are in there, but I cannot speak to trophy quality.

We don't need more folks in there pushing elk into "refuges" (mostly private land). CPW is doing this primarily to burn off PP's for folks like KC with excessive points. We already have 6 seasons from Sept to almost end of Nov. Now that the regular rifle seasons are starting a week later, it gives the critters two weeks to settle down, even move off private land in some cases. Sticking an extra rifle season in there runs counter to CPW single biggest management challenge--private land refuges.

In 76, the early-early season does make a bit more sense because 1) it gives the rifle hunter the opportunity to hunt high when there are more elk up there still (with the seasons starting a week later it has made one of my high altitude "hotspots" untenable because the elk are out of there after the first 10 days of October. 2) The private land around 76 is mostly a long ways away and it takes a while for the elk to work their way down there (where they run a gauntlet of OTC units which is why the bulls tend not make it past a certain age)

61 is an entirely different story. The lower reaches are private (which means the only way to get yourself or an elk out is UP--I hate walking UP to camp or the truck in the afternoon when I'm tired and trying to figure where the hell the truck has parked itself), the southern 20% is private. That early-early season serves to move elk out of areas they would otherwise be.

And in both cases it's practically 1st degree murder--it's almost like carrying a rifle during archery season (watch now everybody is going to be applying for those seasons.........)

Having said all that, it's only like 20 licenses in each unit and if I was sitting on 17+ PP's I would apply in a heartbeat.

But I am not about to wait 20 years to draw a unit, there are lots of work-arounds in the limited entry hunts that still give me a decent chance to chase mature bulls.

Although it's become tougher--there has been a fair jump in preference point creep the last two years. At some point CPW is going to have to change the system, even though we hunters demanded limited entry deer/elk units and PP system 25-35 years ago, it's no longer workable for the average hunter.

Yep. My camp in 76 was at 11,000 ft. I got my first preference point by accident 17 years ago...made a mistake on my application and applied for the wrong unit. After that I just kept applying for a point as my first choice. Nowadays there are some units/seasons that I’d like to hunt that don’t require points but do require being first choice on the application so I decided to get rid of my points. I had a most excellent hunt and now won’t be in the point game anymore.

At 60 years old, when I burn this set of points, I'll be doing the same thing.

Two years a go I shot a cow standing next to a 330-340 bull and all it would've taken is a 1st choice with 0 points to have a bull tag in my hand instead............sheesh.

Please guys keep the conversation going. I'm getting a good education about those two units.

I've got several months to make the final decision before submitting my application. The trend seems to be aiming me in the direction of 76.

KC

KC,

Have you watched Randy Newberg's Unit 61 video? I know he's on here as Bigfin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyiVnVXkqn0

Keep in mind, Mother Nature may conspire against you. I’ve got two friends who drew 61 in the l last two years. One in first season, the other this year in 2nd season. They knew the unit fairly well but had the kind of weather Randy Newburgh had in his hunt video. They did not tag an elk in either of those seasons and they hunted hard every day. This year in second season they only had one chance at a good bull and a cow elk blew the whistle on them as they were closing for the shot. We can’t control what the weather will be like next year but I would look very hard at the moon phase. A full moon and warm weather is not a great combination since the elk can feed all night, return to sanctuary, and won’t bugle for very long in the early morning and hardly at all in the evening. (The bugling is assumed for a first season hunt and maybe a bit during 2nd). That’s why I would suggest applying for the early 1st rifle since you have a bunch of points especially since the new season dates for 1st rifle have been pushed back one week which is one week further from the rut. Bugling is really going to help you locate elk. It might be different at altitude in 76 since 61 is fairly low altitude but I have no experience in 76.

Not to hijack the thread, KC, but...

While a full moon and warm weather are not good news for the elk hunter, it is proven that elk don't need the moon to see at night. I have numerous game camera photos of elk feeding in pitch black darkness. Would be interesting to hear a biologist chime in on this subject.

Casey:

That was a fun video to watch. Thanks for posting it.

I've done a lot of hunts just like that one in the West Elk Wilderness, unit 54. I packed a couple of bulls out of the West Elk Creek gorge, when I was in my fifties. The terrain was as tough. Only the bulls were smaller.

Randy did that hunt in November. I will apply for the early season hunt, first week of October, during the peak of the rut. That early hunt is offered in both units.

I wish there was a video for the Upper Rio Grande. I'm still leaning towards unit 76 because I love the high altitude ecology.

KC

BeanMan:

Yep. The early first season rifle hunt, first week of October, seems like the best opportunity.

KC

I’m not saying elk don’t feed at night without a full moon but it has been my experience that they will be less likely to move during the daylight hours when there is a full moon. I will avoid hunting under a full moon when I can.

RE the burned areas: The West Fork Complex fires burned a lot of 76 in 2013. Most of the area I explored south of Rio Grande Resevoir was not burned. The area I hunted was near the fire, and the Fern Creek Trail I took in to hunt goes through an extensive burn. There is lots of new aspen and grass growth, and it seemed like there ought to be elk there, but we saw no sign. It would be tough to hunt and the new aspens growth is thick and about head high or a little higher. Various people told me that the elk population was increasing in the burned areas, but I saw no evidence of that in the admittedly small area of the burn I explored.

THere is a good description of the fire on Wikipedia and if you google search you will find maps of the burned areas.

2 weeks ago I was in the timber at daylight with 5-6" of fresh snow that ended late the previous afternoon. 250 sets of elk tracks later, 249 of them going downhill obviously in the middle of the night (but there was a moon out). The one confused bull that was sidehilling I managed to run down and kill him...............

I like the high country too, KC. Unit 61 is west facing and can be warm, even hot in September into early October--one reason I stopped archery hunting it back in the 80's. For a early October hunt, 76 would be more appealing. It's just that 61 is figuratively and literally my backyard.

KC, still working on posting photos, but I have some from 76 last month.

I prolly will never hunt 61, but my wife has enough points for a first rifle cow hunt and we think we will do that next year, so I will still get the experience.

Smokepole, you mentioned in another thread somewhere that you weren’t impressed with Accubond performance on elk. Just curious as to why. This bull was the 5th elk I have killed with a 150gr Accubond, .308 Winchester, at about 2850 FPS. Ranges 50 to 200yd. Each was a one shot kill with exit wound, no bullets recovered. Admittedly a small sample but so far they work great for me.

I wonder how many of the guys/gals on this forum will be heading to either of these two units next year,or at least applying for them because of this thread?

All the ones that have enough points but don’t have enough points for 2/201/10.

I know, I know...........

The thing is, it's a lot more rugged terrain, and the elk aren't quite as much in full view as 2/201/10.................

Some will be sorely disappointed.