Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Three Cajuns from South Louisana Lokking for a palce to hunt elk in Colorado This October

Looking for a place to hunt elk in October.

where are yall from in La. I'm in Opelousas. were looking for a guide that hunts over alfafa fields.

There's probably over 100 million acres of public land in Colorado. What are you asking? Are you asking for a private land recommendation, a guide, or where to go on public land?

russ333:

Most Western hunters are not going to tell you where their honey holes are. You're going to have to find your own spot. But there's lots of info available and if you do your home work, you might be able to find a good place to start. If you want to hunt in Colorado, here's how to locate an area.

Get a copy of a road map of Colorado that indicates which land is public. Compare that to the map of game management units in the Colorado Big Game Hunting brochure. Look for units with lots of public land.

Next, look on the CO DOW big game web page for the recap of preference points required to get a license in limited draw units. http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/ There are more licenses offered than there are applicants in those units that require zero points. Those are places where game populations are at or above management objectives. Look for units which require zero points and have lots of public land.

Finally, go to the interactive game management unit maps. http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/GMUnitMaps.htm They contain maps of winter ranges, calving areas and summer ranges in each GMU. With all that info, you ought to be able to pick an area where there are lots of elk and lots of public land. And then you should be able to determine where they are in summer, where their winter range is, the most likely routes that they use to get from one area to the other, and therefore where they are most likely to be during hunting season. You can buy this info in a CD that�s a little more user-friendly. http://wildlife.state.co.us/wildlifestore

If you want to put in for the computer draw, here's a link that gives draw expectations. http://huntodds.monstermuleys.com/

I hope this helps. Good luck and safe hunting.

KC

The main thing to realize is that hunting in Colorado may appear difficult conceptually, but it's easy. My first two years, we just loaded up the old truck and headed out, got to Carbondale and bought an over the counter bow tag in Walmart. Found a bow shop and talked to the owner. I had the topo map booklet that you can find any outdoor store. They make them for most states.

Anyway, he pointed out some areas so we bought some bigger maps at the local climbing store and headed out. Drove around and checked out some areas. Got out, set up our tent and started hunting.

Did we get one - NO. But we got some stalks in before getting busted. Had a bull come in but also busted us. We had a blast none the less and got in great shape.

Point is that there is so much area to hunt and in Colorado you just find a national forest access road and go for it.

By year 3 we all tagged out. We do better than 50% kill ratio now.

Here's an idea, too. Try to spend a few hours (even just a few minutes) reading past posts about the same question and you will learn a ton of info. Too many people come on here and ask a question that has been answered 10 times in the last month. I am not sure if it is laziness or ignorance about how the site works but if you would just put in a little bit of time and research first, you would be much better served. A question asking "where should I hunt?" Really? The great thing about Colorado is that there are many public acres in units that have OTC bull tags. In other words, you can do little or no planning and walk up to the counter and pay for an out-of-state tag and be hunting right away. Good luck in your search and RESEARCH for a place to hunt in Colorado. Just my $.02

conrad:

I agree that the hunting opportunities are unlimited in Colorado and several other Western states. It really doesn't amount to much more than going camping in an area where there are lots of elk and then doing a lot of hiking and gazing at the scenery, with a rifle on your shoulder and a license in your pocket.

I went on my first elk hunt in 1978. On opening morning, the veterans put the rookie (me) where they thought the elk would run then they swept through the dark timber. A big bull nearly ran me down and I killed it out of self-defense. That was charity from my friends.

I didn�t kill another elk for several years. I saw a few, but either they were too far away or I had the wrong tag or I was doing some stupid rookie thing that spoiled my opportunity. But I had a great time on every hunt.

In 1987, I killed a cow elk that was standing beside a backwoods road. That was just dumb luck.

The next time I saw an elk was in 1990. I had finally gotten serious about elk hunting. I picked an area and done comprehensive pre-season scouting. I went on several summer camping trips, hikes and backpack trips into the area. By the time that the season rolled around, I knew the area like my backyard. I knew where the elk spend the summer, where they spend the winter and how they get from one area to the other.

I have taken one or two elk almost every year since then. One thing I�ve learned is that it�s important to start with the attitude that taking a cow would be great. The big bulls will come in time, when you have educated yourself.

If you can�t scout an area throughout the summer, then come several days early and do your scouting before the season. Hunt the same area year after year. When you know your area like your back yard, when you hunt from before dawn until after sunset every day of the season, when you hunt in the mean nasty places where others won�t or can�t, and when you learn to think like someone is trying to kill you and you start hiding from them, that�s when you will become a successful elk hunter.

I hunt for the adventure, fellowship, challenge, and love of the outdoors. If I get an animal, that's a bonus. I now get about as much satisfaction by setting up one of my friends on one of my honey holes and seeing them score.

KC

Thanks guys we really appreiate it!!

Another tip that has helped me, google earth. Birdseye view if you know what I mean. Go find an area, hunt there everytime you can(assuming there are elk there). I am definately still learning, I have a total of one small bull to my credit. I see elk every year but usually from a distance or in the wrong place(private land) adjacent to the area I am in. By all means go elk hunting! Its fun for us flat landers and different from east texas or lousiana.