Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Co units 12 13 23 and 24?

Drew a tag for 12 13 23 and 24 for 2nd season on the secondary draw. Have never hunted any of these areas before . Any advice?

Have been so busy at work have not had a chance to go scouting

Take your own parking space. Look at the number of cow tags the give out. A lot. Which is why you were able to draw on 2nd draw. Combine all those units and they hold the largest elk herd in Colorado, BUT it is a big area. So it doesn't necessarily mean more elk per square mile, but there are more elk on the White River drainage than the one to the east

The road that goes east from Yellow Jacket Pass is the defining boundary of ATV's .Open on the south, closed to the north and there will be a lot of them. North of that, access is limited to lower elevations and you need to hike a long way and up to get to good elk habitat.

13 does not have much public land , same with 23. 12 has a lot with 24 having the most and that has the road that goes up thru Buford to Trappers Lake I believe.There are a lot of hunters along that and side roads.

Everyone says, hike back in 4-5 miles and get away from other hunters. Everyone and their brothers follow that advice. What you need to do is find country that others won't go in and you will find the elk.

Hint.Look at the north side of Sleepy Cat Peak in the headwaters of Milk Creek.Bushwhack in from that road that goes east of Yellow Jacket pass .That is not easy though.. Of course,everyone who has tag for those areas will be reading this...

If it hasn’t snowed much go fairly high to scout & hunt, lots of snow go lower down. The elevation you find them at is a good reference for the whole zone probably 3500’ of difference there so it keeps you focusing on likely spots. Second season is crowded but between the road hunters & the go deep crowd 1-3 miles off road can be productive.

The edge of private is not a bad strategy- get onX or similar to make sure you don’t trespass some of the ranchers are a little aggressive with hunters even close to their property lines & you don’t want to shoot one that dies on their place.

Nice to have an ATV but not a necessity there. Have had good luck tracking single animals in the snow pushed by hunters, looking way ahead so I glass potential bedding areas before I kick them out, of course pay attention to the wind.

I’d suggest buying a bull tag so you don’t end up looking at one 100 yards away without being able to shoot him. Murphy’s law whatever tag you don’t have is the animal you see.

Lots of elk on private here so areas that offer cover or canyons that go into public can be good particularly if they are hunting the herd on the flat below you.

Thanks for the advice

Last time I hunted there was 2011, so I'm sure things have changed. If you tent camp (vs. giant ass 5th wheel camp) you can get into the woods farther...only to be woken up by the 5th-wheeler dude's heated UTV driving past your camp at 4am. There were elk there, but never in any numbers and they would be scattered about. No herds, just a random cow or two and the occasional small bull. The scenery is iconic Colorado fall hunting. Gorgeous aspens, streams, conifers, mountains, mixed in with fancy urban cowboy rigs from Denver and Texas and Pennsylvania. Just like all the other heavily hunted public land areas in Colorado, elk move onto private land starting in late archery season. After the first gun shots of the first season any elk stragglers dodging hunters on public land either take a bullet, or learn quick where the peace and quiet is.

If you want to follow the advice of getting into the nastiest, darkest, farthest bull nest you can find, by all means do so. Miles from the road is meaningless today. You can only go into the woods so far before you come out the other side, or the other side guys are on your side. You likely will find some bulls seeking solidarity in the hell holes of such talked about timber. My experience has been you will find a LOT more elk where the elk guru's say to avoid, like near roads and hayfields and private sanctuaries.

We hunted the entire area around Triangle mountain (Tons of outfitters) and the corridor between W Mountain and Sheep mountain and the Stillwater area. My advice for second season would be leave your bugle at home (please), and glass escape corridors that lead to private and lower elevations. The notion that the bulls will wait for snow to leave is BS. Bullets make them leave a lot sooner.

Most all above is good advise. Lots of folks go deep and hunt away from roads but most don’t venture into dark timber or far from easily visible parks. I hunted north side of sleepy cat in 2020. Lots of folks out and about on the first rifle opener. It was an exceptionally hot year, visited with several hunters, all really pleasant guys. I ran into a group from South Dakota that had a camp and hunted the same spot for the last 20+ years. Just so happened that I beat the guy to his “honey hole” that morning and he was kind enough to bump into me and let me know I was in a good spot and he would head around the point to give me room. After a short conversation I invited him to sit with me in his spot as we had opposite tags. We heard less than a dozen shots fired that morning and we only saw a spike. Worth the trip. Great guys on that mountain unfortunately the elk were not that year.

Sending Pm.

There are better units. I'd look for the steepest, thickest and nastiest cover you can find, get into it before daylight and find a place to sit over a place where trails cross and let the other guys push elk to you and even that will be iffy.

A lot of good advice commented here earlier. I'm quoting Saddlesore, because I couldn't have said it better.
If your lucky enough to get one from up there you'll earn it. Great, beautiful Country, and it'll be a hunt of a lifetime!
I have a 6x6 mounted on the Fireplace from up there in the Great Room, that I shot at 27 yds.
Every time I look at it, I remember that hunt like it was yesterday!!!
Hunted it 4 times, and successful once, with a Bull. Earned every minute of it!
But very successful every time as I wouldn't trade that experience for nothing.
Enjoy the Moment!

HS58

We hunt private land in unit 13 for the past 16 years. On the west side of 13, it’s mostly private land with rugged BLM and state land. I recommend sitting on a travel corridor where you can see, get in and out, and hope bushwhackers send elk to you. I’ve never hunted by Yellow Jacket Pass or Sleepy Cat myself.

Going to head up next Friday for a weekend of scouting. Will check out areas recommended


Thanks for the advice

Indian Run SWA and the country between it and Pagoda Peak and Ripple Creek Pass are places to consider.

Indian Run is down pretty low. It is good long hike to get up back by Little Baldy. Some nasty mud in there if it gets wet. Good migration hunt territory though. Ripple Creek Pass is decent