Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Three weeks in Colorado, no elk

I just returned from three weeks on Colorado, started in Colorado Springs, finished in Grand Junction, hiked 121 miles according to my tracker, did not see an single elk. Hiked high and low, drove for hours, always looking. Spent a day in Pike National Forest, covered miles on a SxS, not even a single sign (note, the forest is mostly burnt). Saw lots of Mule deer in Utah new Zion NP but did not spy a single elk anywhere, near or far. Spent last summer in MT, elk were everywhere, by the hundreds. CO is supposed to be the most populated state, go figure! Although this was a family vacation, I was hoping to get some inside info for a possible DIY hunt, I have since scrapped that idea.

Where the elk are now (summer range) is much different than where they'll be in hunting season.

I doubt the elk just vanished statewide.

If by chance they did, then you can thank a wolf.

I hunted the third rifle season in Colorado in 2018. We hunted near Walden. there were nine of us, and none saw an elk in a week of hunting. Moose were around, but not elk. However, the weather wasn't bad enough to drive the elk down from the higher elevations, and it was windy with light snow most of the week. Critters don't like to move around when they can't hear, smell, or see well.

Some of the greatest numbers of elk that I see out here are in Southern Colorado, between the Purgatoire River and the New Mexico State line.

Interesting, thanks!

Always a lot of elk hanging out in Estes Park , right outside Rocky. I imagine a lot are hanging out in the timber to get out of the heat. If you are not out and about right at day break you won't see many. Some will be hanging out in what snow fields are left, up high to get away form the bugs.

Too many people hiking around Pike NF and they push the elk out. Some of that herd is up on the COS water shed property that you can't access.

All across Colorado though there are a lot more people recreating in the NF that push elk further back in.Trips into wilderness areas, you will meet hikers, backpackers and trail riders all the time. Can't get away from them. If not wilderness, you will be overrun with mountain bikers. Couple that with the fact that CPW way over estimates how many elk Colorado actually has and it is no wonder you didn't see elk.CPW probably has a better handle on the number of elk, but if they would put that number out,their license sales would go down and they are not about to let that happen. I think they are still publishing that 280,000 ,but I doubt if the actual numbers top 200,000 or even come close to it

Hard to believe 9 hunters didn't see and elk but I shouldn't be surprised. I'm sure you saw lots of hunters though, that's the trouble with public land.

Saddlesore, I believe it, people everywhere. Never seen so many campers and ATVs in my life, must be the weather. CO Springs was a nice break, Grand Junction was a desert with heat to match.

Antlers, do you think floating the river would be a feasible option for hunting?

Bob,

If you want to see Elk in CO now, you need to have very good knee's. It's 8 am and it's already 80 degrees.

Expect to find them very high up. As SS mentioned, during the day they will be in dark timber. They will graze at night when it's cool. I'd set on high altitude water sources near dark timber and good grass as sun up and sun down. That would be your best chance.

I saw around 40 elk last weekend east of Grand Mesa...but I know where to go to find them.

No sir.

But from Stonewall east along highway 12, all the way to about halfway between Weston and Trinidad...everything south of that boundary...all the way to New Mexico, is where I’ve seen lots of elk out here.

Antelope, we hiked as high as 10,800 and I do understand that we were more in tourist areas than remote hunting land but I thought for sure I'd see one here or there, even at distance. On a side note, I say as many as 20 mule deer bucks, some very nice, on one stretch of highway near Bryce, way outside the park, in UT.

Have you seen them there this spring and summer?

We are ass deep in tourists. The parking lot to climb the 14ers are overflowing. Had a job by the Quandry mountain trailhead. The parking lot was overfull. Then they parked up to 3 miles away along every wide spot in the road. Many elderly locals refuse to leave their house anymore because of the crowded conditions. Local hunters are suffering to the extreme. So many out of staters that the chance of drawing a license are greatly reduced. Out of 9 license tried for I drew 1. Thirty four unsuccessful attempts for moose. And those damned bicyclists. Grrrrrr, Don't get me wrong some tourist are nice and know how to drive I have been told.

I usually see em’ there in the Fall and Winter. Especially Fall. That’s typically when I spend time down there. In the Spring and Summer I’m typically spending time at higher elevations.

Yep. There’s a lotta people out here right now. That particular trailhead is very easy to get to, it’s right off Hwy. 9, and it’s just a few minutes outside of Breckinridge...so it’s quite popular.

In Colorado? Do tell.

As others have said, it's been hot here for weeks now and you're not going to see them out and about during the day unless you're way up high.

I'd draw absolutely zero conclusions based on your observations on the state's elk herd...

At this time of year, a lot of elk will be found above timberline. They will congregate in large herds at seasonal marshes created by melting snow. Lots of grass and small broad leaf forbes are abundant for a month or so, in those marshes. The elk will stay until they have grazed off the grass. Then they will drop down into the subalpine zone. A good pair of binoculars makes it easier to spot them.