I don't see much posted here concerning Flatland Elk Hunting. But I do see that there is a Colorado season dedicated to Flatland elk hunting.

So, how is Flatland Elk Hunting.

And, being from Minnesota, I would like to take this opportunity to THANK YOU VERY MUCH to all of the Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming residents who faithfully and unselfishly post here giving all of us out of staters advice on hunting elk and mule deer. I have read some great information on this forum, things I could not have gottem from the various state DNR sites. So THANK YOU.

I assume most of the flat land elk hunting is east of I25.if that is the case I don't know of any public land where one could elk hunt in the eastern part of Colorado.There is a smaller herd,north of me that moves around on 7-8 differnt ranches.

Here in Colorado we have unlimited licenses for elk east of I25, and a very generous season. It's basically an attempt to exterminate them in country where they will cause problems. I do know of a few pockets on private lands where the ranchers allow them to persist and make some money off of hunters.
In Wyoming they also have elk in and around places like the Thunder Basin Grasslands and the Red Desert. These are very high success hunts and are in great demand. They only do the Thunder Basin bull hunts every three years in order to maintain some trophy quality. not much chance for a big trophy bull in the Red Desert as they tend to shoot over 40% of the bulls every year.

Can't speak for CO, but Idaho has flat land and Idaho has elk. However, for the most part they're mutually exclusive.

Flat land elk go to Arizona

I read an article a while ago about elk hunting east of I-25 in Colorado. It stated that there are about 800 to 1,000 elk east of I-25 and about 250,000 elk west of I-25. I stopped reading when I got to that statistic.

I've heard that some people pack into the Picketwire Canyon and kill elk there.

KC

"flatland" elk hunting is more like antelope hunting, in that the excellent vision that elk have soon comes apparent. They'll get up a move 5 miles on a whim and that can make problems in getting an elk due to the amount of private land they inhabit in the "flatlands"
There have been some good bulls killed in Colorado around the Stoneham and New Raymer area. Most locals think those are probably elk that escaped from an "elk ranch" that was in the area.
Here in Wyoming we have several "flatland" areas, two of them are general license areas and the rest are limited quota. Private land dominates the region and if you don't have a good amount of access the chances of getting an elk is slim. The trophy quality is very high due to the small number of permits allowed and the excessive number of elk.

Don't think the Picketwire canyon is exactly what I would call "flatland"

What is "flatland" and what kind of elk is that?
I consider all of my elk hunting as flatland its just turned up on its side.

Prwlr:

Yeah I guess you're right. Those canyons can be pretty deep at places. It is on the plains though. I guess I'm not quite sure what is meant by "flat land elk".

For that matter the sage hills of northwest Colorado might be considered "flatland" compared to hunting in the mountains.

KC

I am mainly refering to the Colorado "Plains" Elk Rifle Season with the over the counter tags.

Seems to me that the nice folks at the Colorado DNR wouldn't run a seaon on elk out in the plains unless there were some elk out there to hunt in each numbered unit.

I wouldn't bet on it. However, I would bet that they would run a season anywhere that they think they could get someone to buy a license.

KC

Good point there.

+1 Lots of licenses but no where to hunt (unless you have access to private land.)

For years there has been a herd down on the Arkansas river near the Oklahoma /Kansas border. All on private land. CO DOW had tried to get Kansas to go in on a project that would allow a hunter with either a Kansas tag or CO tag to hunt there in either state, but Kansas backed out and I think still has season on thier side of the fence. Oklahoma does not have season and the Okies shoot the heck out of them when they cross that line as they are not protected.

That herd was about 200 and I had heard that archers took several Pope & Young class elk out of there. I have not followed it for several years now.
This small herd around here that travels around and there is a high fence ranch about 6 miles east with about 300 elk in it.The wild elk play hell with the fence during rut.

Vince:

I've heard people mention a small herd that supposedly roams around on the Monument/Palmer Divide. Is that the one you are referring to?

KC

KC.There are three - four herds actually.
One is on the AFC and sometimes moves onto the median at the north entrance and then a little further east, but not much.

The one at Palmer Lake/Monument is known to get up to the Greenland area and onto the open space, but get on to private land pretty quick if anyone bothers them.

The small herd north of me runs east and west along the Doublas /Elbert/ El Paso County line and traverses that country all the way to Bijou Basin where the high fence herd is.
Two-three bulls get poached every year out around Elbert.

Then there is a herd of about 20 , southeast of me that mostly live on the Audubon Concervancy land,east of Vollmer Road

In general, how do Colorado land owners respond to requests to hunt on their land?

They only respond to large checks or wads of cash.

Taz4570 is about right.I have one ranch I hunt pronghorn on as I have known the owners for 15+ years. I drew a pronghorn tag for unit 112 two years ago, knocked on every door I could find and the cheapest trespass fee I found was $850. I never have encountered a goat worth$850. The chances are slim to none of finding a rancher who would let you hunt elk for nothing.

Another problem is that you don't have the 1000+ acrea ranches that have elk on them. Most are a lot smaller. The elk move from ranch to ranch and where you pay to hunt on one,the elk may be on another

+1

I have seen some nice bulls just south of the Wyoming-Colorado border while driving up to Cheyenne.

The old Bijou ranch has a new name here it is

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/BigGame/RanchingforWildlife/KiowaCreekRanch.htm

Here's a "flatland" elk I shot along the Purgatoire river.

I have hunted elk in 'flatland' areas, if you could call it that, as far east in Colorado as Elbert. It could be more accurately characterized as foothills terrain, with bluffs, drainages, timber covered covered slopes, and open sagebrush, grass, and scrub oak flats. Elevations are in the 5000-7000' range. Took a cow elk SE of Castle Rock, E. of the interstate, several years ago. I often see elk both east and west of the interstate between Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

I used to live west of I25, southwest of Castle Rock, near Perry Park. Elk were frequent visitors, and I hunted them along Tomah Road. A few years ago, a neighbor of mine took a very nice 6x6 bull a few miles north of Pueblo, along Fountain Creek east of I25.

As indicated, these areas are pretty much exclusively private land, and most of it is either tied up by outfitters, or on property where the owners do not allow hunting.

Nah--we sent all the flat elk to Nebraska and Kentucky......

In the last 2-3 weeks my wife and I have spotted elk between Franktown and Colorado Springs on the west side of #83 and east of Kiowa south of #86. Some nice bulls but private land.

Just got back from the range. Someone hit a 5x Bull on Hodgon Road with thier car or truck last night, about 3 miles east of me here. From the looks of the debris, the vehickle didn't not come out of it very good either.
Full velvet yet and it looked like it had some growing to do yet.

I would not plan on seeing much for elk if you are looking into the east of I-25 area in Colorado. Very low numbers, not even enough to give a density statistic, possible yes but it is also possible for me to draw a sheep tag in every western state in the year 2012 too but will it really happen?
You will always here of elk being shot out there, I know a guy who shot a dandy 6 point from the castle rock area. It was on private but it happens. There is a herd in the monument/palmer divide area but its small and covers lots of ground, with zero public land and a large chunk of the private is subdivided into 5, 10, and 40 acre lots. Not exactly ideal hunting conditions.
Elk are also seen south of the springs along I-25 but those come off of Fort Carson and there is a OTC archery hunt there. The bad thing is that with the addition of thousands of new troops and troops returning home, they take up all of the sub-units hunting units on the base for training (they do have priority). It is a pain in the @$$ to hunt Ft. Carson with all of the additional requirments, regs, small sub-units etc.... but possible.

You will probably find some outfitter that has access to some large chunks of property that could offer elk hunts but even then I would be very suspicious of elk hunts in the plains east of I-25. Like previously stated the only reason they have seasons there is to eradicate elk to keep them from causing problems.