Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting colorado elk question

Bingo!

Over the past 3 years, I’ve spent about 4 total weeks hunting elk.... everything from August archery to late December cow hunts... to all the rifle seasons in the middle. I’ve run into exactly five people that entire time who were further than 1/4 mile from the road. That’s in easy to draw, limited tag units.....

I can’t figure out what everyone is bitching about.... except the fact that most folks don’t want to “hunt” elk. They want to drink beer in a 6 person “camp”, sleep in a $45k trailer, and shoot a 370’ bull about 65 yards from the road.

I ran into 3-4 people way up on the mountain last archery season alone.

I spent 12days elk hunting in the CO 2nd rifle season and only saw my hunting partner. Didn't see but one elk calf.

I do tend to get surprised about how far back some of these youngsters are going.

If you're surprised to see youngsters back there, then I'm sure these guys were surprised to see me......

Hey guys I did apply for a tag. My friends are going to be hunting in unit 62 so that is the only unit that I applied for. I’m a bit short on cash and vacation days so I sorta hope that I don’t drawn for a tag. But if I do get one it will be ok because I have never gotten an elk.

Is unit 62 heavily timbered?
I have heard that it gets hunted HARD
Should I bring a Light weight 308 or 7mm mashburn.

https://huntscore.com/hunts/co/elk/26ba47a0-52dc-4f4a-a9df-c62ce27ef610

Like most GMUs in CO, it has a variety of habitat and is heavily timbered at higher elevations (with lots of open parks) and not timbered at lower elevations. You'll find oak brush, pinyon-juniper, and sagebrush the lower you go.

As far as rifles, I'd take the one that's lightest and handiest because you'll be doing a lot of walking with some steep terrain and your success will be based on finding elk more than which chambering you use. During rifle seasons you won't catch elk out in the open during shooting hours very often.

If it is an OTC unit.It will indeed be hunted hard

They give em a couple wks to come up with the money. Bighorn apps went from roughly 18k to 41k. Mtn goat apps went from 12k to 33k. Moose will have a similar jump, I don't expect the rest to be quite as drastic but it will be significant. Point creep was already an issue, get ready for it to be brutal!

The number of licenses going out will be the same, it’s the roughly 100% increase in number of people getting points that is going to significantly alter the points system.

I did draw a tag for UNIT 62. Does anyone have experience or advice for hunting this unit?

We drink eggnog and whiskey in a 6 person "camp", pass around pictures of the Bulls we've killed over the past decades to get the adrenaline going while looking at the pictures of shot 370'+ bulls sitting 5 yards off the county road. I guess we just enjoy the rustic atmosphere of the falling apart cabin in the high back country we sleep in rather than pull the $100k trailers up onto the mountain byway of the "county road", and chance them getting snowed in.

We eat like royalty, hunt hard, go to sleep at 8 and wake-up at 5. It's a rough hike out the cabin and downhill 650 yards to the Colorado county road.

I guess every "camp" is different.

Colorado first season is oct 13 through the 17th. Should I be expecting elk to be done with the rut by this time? I would think that they would be.

also would I be finding them in the summer grounds or will they be transitioning to more winter grounds?

Don't be afraid to call to them. We have good success first season,and we've had them come in screaming. They are where you find them. Last year,they were on the water,or not far from it. Beaver ponds to be exact. Midday was dead,but first and last light produced. In 2013,we had a big snow event at 10,000 ft where we camp. Thought we were going to get blown off the mountain. The next morning there were tracks everywhere. All headed down hill. It all worked out though. We took 3 bulls out of there the 3rd and 4th day. Then the snow blasted the mountain again last day. Usually,we have bluebird days and cold nights.

We've taken bulls from the quakies, meadows, and beaver ponds/water. We camp at 10,000,and have been blessed with living among them first season. You should have a blast if you get up where they live. Quite often we are serenaded while eating supper. Really gets the juices flowing.

Where I hunt (NW Colorado, 7,000-9,000 ft), they are still bugling and running with the cows during the first rifle hunt. There have only been a couple of years in the last 20+ when it seemed that the rut was pretty much over by the time that the first rifle season opened.