Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Is It Really That hard To Kill a Bull Elk in CO on Public Land

Been doing a lot of research on OTC elk hunting here in Colorado and it seems like the success rate of DIY public land elk hunting is really really low. I’ve talked to some Co-workers and other people I’ve met since I moved here and I hear a lot of I went elk hunting but not very many guys that actually killed an elk. Now I have no way to ascertain how hard these guys really hunt but man it sure is discouraging. I read the thread on here where the guy posted about his elk hunt where guys accused him of being on private land (road and fence posts in background blah blah blah ) and the reaction from guys is as if it’s nearly impossible to kill a decent bull on public land. With a herd 250,000 strong, and abundance of available tags both draw and OTC, it wouldn’t seem like a guy has a pretty good shot at a bull. I’m looking at 60+ units that offer OTC 2nd and 3rd season tags studying maps that break down public and private land and plan on doing a bunch of summer scouting hikes to see what the layout is in several units. I’ve also considered doing some bow hunting when you can actually use calls pretty effectively on them. Been told before in my life that the chances were slim of killing a certain animal and it never slowed me down before, but man it sure don’t sound like the odds are very high!

AC. Stop buy and I can give a lot of pointers, info on hunting elk in Colorado. I have been doing it for 40 years. Last year is first I haven't killed an elk in many many years.

The only thing I see in your post that is harder is " decent bull". That can be done , but it's a step harder. A fellow is usually looking at a draw area for that.

PM me and I can give you directions to my place.

Saddlesore, you sound like a great resource for hunting tips. I have hunted elk in SW Colorado for 7 of the past 8 years, without success. My hunting buddy and I have hunted 1st, 2nd and, as of last year, 3rd rifle seasons, all OTC except one. We have hunted guided and semi-guided on horseback, cabin hunts, from drop camps and one year even did a backpack hunt. This past season, we saw more elk than we've ever seen before....all on private land. I am an avid deer hunter and have taken deer all over OK and in S. Dakota but quickly found out that my 40+ years of experience hunting in the mountains and hills in OK and SD didn't produce the same successful results in CO.

I am an older hunter and I'm no longer physically able make the steep climbs and long stalks so, last year was my final elk hunt. Still, I look forward to reading the responses on this thread.

I went on my first elk hunt in 1978. For the first few years all I managed to do was carry a rifle while hiking and camping. Eventually I figured out a few basic hunting skills, I picked a hunting area and hunted it year after year until I knew it like my back yard, and that's when I started being successful at bringing home meat and antlers. That seems like a long time ago. Now I don’t care too much about killing an elk myself, but I try hard to help my hunting companions connect. I’ve learned to appreciate the sunrises more and more.

For over twenty-five years, I got an elk almost every year. Sometimes I got both a cow and a bull. My hunting buddies rarely got an elk and one guy asked me why. I replied that there are no secrets to hunting elk. You already know what you have to do to be successful. But most people won't or can't do what it takes to be successful.

You have to hunt every day of the entire season. You should arrive at camp no later than the day before opening day and don't leave until the day after the last day of the season. You can't expect to be successful if you hunt on just the weekend or if you hunt for just part of the season.

You have to hunt all day. The most productive times to hunt are just after dawn and just before sunset. So if you want to hunt during those times you have to do most of your hiking to and from the truck or camp, in the dark. Stay in the field for the entire day. Don't go back to camp for lunch. The first hour after sunrise is worth all of the rest of them right up to the last half hour before the sun sets, which is worth all the rest of them combined.

You have to learn to think like an elk. Pretend that you are an elk and you know that hunters are trying to kill you. Imagine where you would go and what you would do to stay alive. Then go there and do that. That's how you find elk. Hiding in the local bar doesn’t count.

You have to hunt the places that others won't or can't. Get away from the roads and hunt in the mean nasty hollows, where it's hard to get into and hard to get out of. Hunt where the elk are. 75% of the elk live in 25% of the available suitable habitat. You need to find out where that 25% area is and spend your time there. It’s valuable when learning to hunt elk to go with the attitude that killing a cow would be great. The big bulls will come in time, after you’ve educated yourself.

The biggest obstacle to overcome is thinking that you can't do it on your own...trust me, you can. Just get out there and do it. I hope this helps. Good luck. Have a safe and enjoyable hunt.

Send me a PM. I wonder how close you live to me.

KC

I had a similar experience. I had no problem killing deer, but could not connect with an elk to save my life. I finally went on a guided hunt and realized that I was approaching the problem all wrong. The individual skills were the same, but I wasn't thinking on the same scale as the guides. Hunting with them really opened my eyes. I feel like I could probably kill a Roosevelt on public land these days, but I'd still need help getting it out of the woods.


Okie John

I was lucky in that my Dad's side of the family had been hunting elk for what seemed like forever up in Idaho, Oregon and Montana. As a kid, it was learning through oral history. When I graduated college, I went on my first elk hunt. My Uncle took me out. I did see some legal bulls but nothing anywhere close to being in range. I next hunted in the Wallawa's in NE Oregon with some 2nd and 3rd cousins and managed my first bull. Nothing major, just a spike, but I had never shot an animal that didn't have 'ground shrinkage' until then. For two years I hunted with them, taking the only bulls that were taken by our group. When asked how I did it, I just credited my kinfolk's knowledge that I could remember.

saddlesore and KC are telling you the facts. You can get lucky and have someone else run one by you (I have, twice) or you can start learning to 'think like an elk'. For archery hunts, I always fell back on my turkey hunting experience. There are a lot of similarities between spring turkey hunting and hunting bulls in the rut.

I will end this by saying ANY bull is a TROPHY bull when they are on the ground with your tag on them.

Please pardon the “smart a&$” comment...in answering the title,
I generally use the same caliber! memtb

AC: It took me 10 years to kill my first rifle elk, not for want of trying. That was 25 years ago and I am about 15 for 25 since. All this goes out the window if you are calling during archery season. That is not my bailiwick. First lesson is just like real estate: location, location, location. Don't waste your time on summer scouting trips. Go fishing instead. I used to fly helos out of Ft. Carson over the mountains and it took me two fall hunts to learn that where the elk are in July is not where they will be in October. Talk to the game wardens at CPW and they can give you some good insights on where the elk are during the season in any given area, i.e. the Flattops, the West Elk, the Grand Mesa, Fossil Ridge, the Uncompagre, etc. . Lesson two, stay away from areas where ATV's are legal. You will want to shoot the ATVs instead of the elk. This means either hunting rugged terrain where the elk usually are often only passing through, or getting on a horse, either rented or with an outfitter, and riding in a couple of miles or more to get to your hunting area. Lesson three, learn the elk patterns in your area. They go up with heat and hunting pressure, and come down with cold and snow. Usually they are high early season and come down late season, but it can take more than a foot of snow--or two-- to get them moving. Some places they come down at night and go back up at first light. They are creatures of habit, but sometimes they change access routes from one drainage to the next over the course of a year or three. Ride until you find them. Four, once you find an area, stick with it for a few years. My biggest problem the first ten years was I changed areas every couple of years, instead of learning the patterns. Of course, some areas don't hold many elk and you are better off finding a more target rich environment. See lessons one through three above. I have never hunted private land, but have hunted fairly steep terrain above private land where the elk came down to feed in the edges. You will learn that black timber can hold a lot of elk, but you get no shot except by pure luck. I have never killed a trophy bull, but many 4 and 5 point raghorns, and as many cows. If you are driven by trophy hunting, then its a different strategy, one I've read about but never felt the need to pursue. Last, once you get an elk, and get it down the mountain, do your own butchering. Buy a 1 hp meatgrinder and a 15 cu.ft or larger freezer. I tried "game processors" on my first few animals, and never felt that I got back the same carefully cleaned animal I brought in. All the packages were labeled "chops" instead of rib steak, round steak, etc. If you put the work in to get the animal, its worth putting the work in to properly cut, grind, and freeze it. Finally, you can luck out and take an elk almost anywhere, but good luck doing it twice. There are areas, and there are areas. Find one of the latter. JMHO. PS. Saddlesore and KC have it right--just a different way of telling it.

I have found this helpful:



Big Game Maps


Still have to scout, navigate through public land, etc but it does give a better idea of where the elk are or will be at hunting time instead of hunting areas where the elk typically are not there. Some times elk will only occupy parts of a certain unit.

People kill bulls every year but the numbers are shrinking IMHO.
I grade bulls into 3 levels- raghorn, not bad (smaller 4x4,5x5 etc)and nice. Real scientific I know. I haven't seen a nice bull living or dead in the past decade on public land.
The last couple years the elk have bunched up on private land within a 1/2 mile of the main highway and there wasn't any really nice ones in a herd of 2-300. I've worn myself out looking for stragglers that didn't get the memo the last several years.
Last season I hunted 2nd combined and did not even hear a rifle shot. I saw 1 mulie hanging in camp. I have hunted this area for 20 years and put meat in the freezer most years during the first decade hunting that area.
I will do something different this year even if it's staying at home.

My first year was more of a scouting session with my bow, only elk in range was a spike (not legal). Second year I went rifle, never saw a single elk during the season on public land. Third year had legal elk in bow range six times in the last four days, but no clear shot and then the wind would shift and they'd split. Had a rifle cow tag for the same area, but by the time rifle season came around all the elk had already moved to the private ground below.

Have not researched it, but does Colorado publish their stats. Rifle success is about 19% on bulls here in Oregon. Those with knowledge and time can of course beat the odds. The municipal lets go hunting guy needs some serious luck to do better than 1 in 5 years. Archery elk runs about 13%.

People have some great and very real anecdotes here. I've been hunting for 39 years, and elk on and off since 1996. First elk was a Roosevelt in Oregon and then a cow in 2013 and bull in 2015. All of them were on publicly assessable land. All rifle seasons - though I did bow hunt one season. My experience in Colorado is that in the last four years there have been exponetially more hunters in the woods. It seems we literally cannot get away from the hunters. We will be six miles away from the nearest drivable road, and walk into a remote spike camp. Then get to our favorite spot for opening morning a full hour early only to have three hunters walk through the exact park we were hoping to see (and have seen) elk as the sun breaks. This year someone put up a spike camp less than 100 yards from this meadow, with a campfire. Talk about scaring elk away. Last year we had hunters bugling non-stop while we were chasing a bull through the woods. Every time they'd bugle, the elk would run another 200 yards farther away. It was maddening. I don't think we suck as hunters either, this year we saw over 100 elk during first season. Only one, yes one, of which was a confirmed legal bull. I couldn't get a shot...literally because of other hunters possibly being behind the bull. (They shot and missed it so I knew about where they were.) Out of those 100, six were unconfirmed as to sex, as in we couldn't see the head. But even then the odds were not in favor of killing a bull. I will post a link here with our hunt once I finish the editing and post it on youtube. I don't have all the elk on video, but plenty enough to get the point.

For the coming season we are looking at other states and possibly a bow season. We've been hunting first season in a draw only unit, and this year we stayed for the first weekend of second season as one of the guys didn't draw a first season tag. I can say this, we will never hunt a second season elk hunt in Colorado again. I'd rather hunt deer in the Midwest...and I'd see less people too. And less damage to the forest. The second season crowd was so desperate to find camp spots they were clearing new camp sites, making deep ruts in undisturbed meadows, and 4-wheeling like it was mud-racing. It was heartbreaking, not what hunting should be.

It used to be about a 10% success rate for bulls in CO. And it's been my observation it is the same guys in that 10% just about every year.......

Interesting responses, a little encouragement mixed with some despair, sounds like hunting....grin. I most certainly intend to give it hell next season and will be obsessing about it from now til then (that’s just how I am). I plan on it being a solo hunt wherever it may be as I’m not likely to find anyone that is willing to spend the whole season out there in the mountains living out of a tarp tent. I’ve got some helpful PM’s and had a helpful conversations by phone. I really was just curious if the success/failure rate is as far spread as it seems and I guess the answer to that is kind of. Thanks for the responses.

I’am new to 24CF. I signed up today basically so I could say “Thank You” to everyone here for the years of information I’ve been able to learn from your knowledge and apply it...You’ve helped to prevent a couple of poor buying decisions on rifles. Educated me with load data which saved me time and money. And, you all, for the most part have a way, like most gunners and hunters can speak a fact or opinion straight at the problem and make it entertaining and educational to read while also gently showing a newbie that he may or may not have their brain fully engaged before asking you a question...Learning with laughter has a way of making information stick in a persons brain pan. With that said. I say Thank You again guys and possibly ladies for the information I’ve found helpful.
Now, back to hunting and Akcubs delemia on new public land hunting. You’ve gotten several solid ideas on how to proceed including the part about other hunters possibly being in the same Unit you’re trying to hunt screwing up your plans time and again. I can speak to all of this personally and jump on with some ideas that may be useful since I only hunt OTC public land for Rosey Elk on the Oregon Coast. Now, I’ve been at it for 40 years straight always hunting the first season which only last 4 actual brutal days and nights. The coast range is rough terrain to say it nicely....To say what the terrain is really like requires too many Fbombs. Akcub, I started with maps, then topo maps. I used them to familiarize myself with the areas on paper. Then I talked to ODFWife (lol) to get their thoughts on herd counts and general areas where elk herds were holding, I started my full on research when deer season opened which gave me 30 days to hunt Blacktail Deer while looking for elk. I went weeks seeing only deer but no elk. I’d see old elk sign daily but no fur. Once the weather changed to cold rain and wind...Then I started seeing Rosey elk out. Quick deduction was warmer weather, low pressure from hunters, timber was there hangout...Sh1T weather with rain and wind would push them out into clearings. 1) find a unit that holds elk 2) hunt the area for deer if possible 3) be ready “which you are” to hunt timber if weather makes it necessary 4) On nasty weathered nights and mornings watch your clear cut edges, openings surrounded by timber and meadows. 5) As its already been said, be ready for other hunters to ruin you first plan. So have a Backup ready to go. If you can hunt hard and away from others you’ll increase you chances. I killed my 31 elk in 2017. Not bad for a 40 year career of luck! My best to you in 2018. I have a feeling you”ll get into some fur right off.

Although last year I didn't draw a tag, previous to that I hunted 1st rifle 9 years in a row, skunked the first 3 years, since then it's been 5 bulls and one cow for me, all on public land.....but we hike in over 4 miles one way, every day....

1. it's an emotional sport of highs and lows
2. there is no more beautiful place to be, no matter what
3. hours and hours of study, tons of workout, and still no success for most of my years. I think I'm 2 for 9 on elk trips now. all public land.
4. if I lived anywhere near Saddlesore or KC, I'd be inviting them over for dinner once a week. great guys and offer tons of advice. you are very lucky to have these resources available. use it.

Good luck!

This.




And this. If you can learn a few good spots that aren't near the road and you're willing to pack one out your odds go way up. IMO, it's more about where you hunt than how you hunt, and that can change from year to year so it pays to have a few different "honey holes."

I've followed the elk success rates in Colorado for many years and watched the overall success fluctuate somewhere around 25%, mostly a little under but a few years a little better.
One real interesting thing I once read was that if you exclude the guided hunters, ranch hunters, special access hunters, and look at the success of just the public land DIY hunters that success rate drops from 1 in 4 to about 1 in 7 (about 15%).
Take it a step further - exclude cows and take just the successful bull hunters from that 15% and you get a smaller number. Not sure what that number is but safe to say you probably don't kill a bull on an OTC tag unless you know what you are doing.

My overall experience is typical of some of the other guys here. I hunted public land for many seasons before I killed an elk. Then something clicked and I killed at least one elk each year. That lasted for about 15 years. The past couple of seasons I have seen elk but not as many and have not gotten shots.