Going Elk hunting for the first time in Colorado this year 3rd rifle season in GMU 54. Looking for any intel on the area. Not looking for trophies, just want to fill the freezer so anything will help.

Thanks

Soap Basin on the west side seems to be the most popular. On the east side,you need to get in aways into the West Elk Wilderness, and although you don't HAVE to have horses, they sure help.

Expect snow the 3rd season. I usually get it in 2nd. Most outfitters clear out before the 3rd season because of the snow.Every year is different

Appriciate it. Are the Elk really going to be hanging out at 10,000 feet around 3rd rifle? I was expecting them to push down to the lower elevations in the south by then. I was looking around Dillon Mesa and West Elk creek just North of one of the finger of Blue Mesa lake.

Really hard to say where they will be.If deep snows, yes they will work lower. I have seen them pushed back higher if there is a lot of hunter pressure.

I'd be concentrating at 8500 ft or so and be mobile.

wshep820:

There are always elk in the West Elk Creek gorge. Look for them on the shoulders of the canyon half way between the rim and the bottom, upstream from the Lion Gulch trail. But you better be in good shape if you get an elk down because it's a tough haul to get them out.

I don't think you'll see many on Dillon Mesa unless there's a ton of snow.

KC

The day we got there:


3 or 4 days later:


Hope for the best but PLAN for the worst. I have never seen it snow so much so fast. This is at the truck/trailhead. Snow was nearly waist deep at 10k feet.

You need to be prepared for winter camping conditions.

It snowed a foot on Saturday, opening day of 3rd season last year (2011). The weather was relatively mild during 4th season. This photo was taken on Sunday morning.




The previous year (2010), it snowed a foot at the trailhead during second season (see Gristle's photos) and 3rd season was relatively mild.

KC

Thanks, wasn't planing on hunting on the mesa just to the West down along W Elk Creek. Sounds like I may have picked an ok spot.

Is there acces to the South? Looks like a dirt road comes into the area just North of the lake on the map but you never can be to sure with maps if the road is open or not.

wshep820:

Any way that you go you have to hike some if you want to camp in the canyon. You can rent horses from Ferros Blue Mesa Trading Post, which is located on the west shore of Blue Mesa Lake.

Southern Access: The best access from the south is the Lion Gulch trail. Or you can use the road that you see on the US Forest Service map but you have to be careful that you stay off of private property (you have to hug the shoreline) and it ends a few miles south of where the Lion Gulch trail crosses West Elk Creek. There's an old trail that starts at the end of the road and follows an abandoned irrigation ditch that eventually connects with the Lion Gulch Trail. North of that point follow the old logging road, which is mostly over-grown and hard to find. There are many picturesque camp spots in the bottom of the canyon. You hike about half way up the canyon wall each day and hunt from vantage points there. The best thing about this strategy is that you can hunt both sides of the canyon and carry your elk down to camp where you have horses waiting. But keep in mind that there are many places where the canyon walls are vertical and climbable only with technical gear. Some of the side gullies end in box canyons at trickling waterfalls. So you have to learn the canyon and pick the best routes to scramble up.

Northern Access: You can hike the trail that starts at the Rainbow Lake Trailhead (USFS trail 449 & 451), cross the creek, and camp in Buck Hollow. You can also hike down into the canyon from Buck Hollow. You can't follow the creek down from the trail crossing because there's a cascade between the trail crossing and Buck Hollow that blocks progress. Or you can drive to the end of the Red Creek road and connect cross-country to the same trail and save yourself about a mile of hiking. This allows you to hunt the west shoulders of the canyon down to about Bonfisk Peak. There's one short stretch of the trail (USFS trail 451) that could be touch and go for the horses. So I've never taken horses along that part of the trail. I've seen more experienced horsemen do it though.

It's also viable to hunt the canyon shoulders from any of several good camp spots right on top of the east rim. You can drive a 4x4 pickup to some of them or take a short hike (less than a mile) or take an ATV to the others. Each day you will scramble half way down the canyon walls and hunt from vantage points there. This is the easiest way to hunt the West Elk Creek gorge. The dissadvantage of this strategy is that you have to carry your field butchered elk uphill in a backpack. You better be young and strong and in good shape if you're going to do that.

There's a big outfitters camp at Rock Springs and they pretty much dominate the west rim south of Bonfisk Peak.

KC

About 25 years ago I horseback hunted 3rd season in that area on both sides of Red Creek Road with a group of guys from here who had grown up in Gunnison and Pitkin. Usually worked up Bull Gulch over across Red Creek and down off Dillon Mesa, past the Needles to meet a trailer at the parking lot by the bridge. About half way up Red Creek Road there was a trail they called Lions Head trail that coursed over a saddle and dropped into West Elk canyon. Don said he had ridden that trail down to the bottom one summer and had no interest in trying it during the winter. His wording was that his ol butt would be sucking blisters on the saddle before he got down that trail.
One day there were some guys who had got onto some elk on top but the elk had bailed off the edge before going down and they couldn't get them out. A local cowboy was charging them $500 apiece to pack them up that hill on his mules. Would hate to see what the rate is these days!

Thanks KC you have been very generous with the intel.

I am in good shape, but looking at the map and seeing what everyone is writing about the area good won't cut it. Sounds like a lot of trips back to the truck.

I'm planning on a couple of scouting trips this summer and fall to get a good feel for the area. Thanks for the heads up about the cliffs, maybe I'll get a little climbing in too.

Now, here's hoping the Elk cooperate and show up for the festivities.

I'll be hunting 2nd in 54 this year for the first time. I spent the last 18 years hunting late seasons (3 then 4 when it was created) a bit east in 551. Rugger terrain for sure, but I think 54 is going to be a bit of an eye opener! I'm taking a group of out of state guys from another hunting forum who would likely never have the chance to hunt elk in CO otherwise. Came to the decision to hunt 54 based on the tag situation...it was a group decision, I pushed very heavily for 551 due to knowing the area but hey, that is democracy for you! They also opted for 2nd due to cold weather, again after ignoring me saying there could be 5ft of snow or 70 degrees...but again, I digress.

For you guys that have hunted it before, especially recently in 2nd or 3rd, what were the crowds like? That is one thing I relished about where I normally hunt, not many people in their right mind choose 551 in the middle of November, its damn cold that close to Monarch LOL.

Different areas have differnt pressure,but if you are on foot,be prepared for a lot of orange.

Well I'm hoping we can find a good place to camp via 4x4's and then hunt deeper from there. Sounds like someone might have to show up on the last day of 1st season though to claim a camping spot if there is that much pressure.

MIleHigh:

There are lots of good camping spots so that's not really a problem. What saddlesore is talking about is that any area within day-hiking distance of a trailhead or road will have lots of pressure. So you have to pack in on horses or backpack in, to get away from the crowds.

KC

MileHigh - I'll be hunting 551 for muzzle loader this year. 1st time to hunt the unit and I would appreciate any tips you've got.

Here's what I know about 54. Lots of access on the southern end. Black Mesa, Soap Creek, Red Creek, Rainbow Lake, Centennial, Beaver Creek. East side has Wiley Lane and Mill Creek, north side Swampy Pass. Elk will head for private ground along Ohio Creek on the east side. I would set up camp off Wiley Lane and try to catch something moving through. Weather will be a factor. Expect snow and cold temps, below zero is common.

Thanks Waygoner! In trade, I'll gladly give some 551 tips lol. You have any ideas yet on where you will be hunting? I am most familiar with the S and E side of the unit. Specifically off the Marshall Pass area, Long Branch, and Long Branch to Needles Creek. A BIT familiar with Daley Gulch, but not tremendously. Some parts of the Marshall/Indian creek area I can almost guide you rock by rock haha

My 1st thought is to hunt the south end off 114, close to North Pass, but I'm open to suggestions.

If you've got the legs, I've seen some very nice bulls back in Long Branch, always when I have a cow tag of course haha. There is a big ridge that divides Marshall Creek and Long Branch Creek but you can only access it from the LB side. I like to start up from the ranger station that is about halfway between Sargents and the end of the road. There is a trail that starts out from where you park going East. Get up on that and then work your way due south on either side of the ridgeline and there is a lot of good elk habitat. Lots of those nice hidden meadows with some water. Go figure I have hardly ever seen people back there, they always hunt Long Branch and west, or they hunt Marshal and east.

Thanks MileHighShooter, I know the ridge and where the ranger station is. I'll get out there and do some scouting.

KC
Getting back to GMU 54 and W Elk Creek. Would you recomed hunting on the West side of the creek then since the East side will have a lot of pressure? Or will the outfitter that camps out on the West side run me off?

wshep820:

I've only hunted the West Elk Creek gorge seven times and that was when I was a lot younger and stronger.

The outfitter can't run you off. It's all public property and you have as much right to be there as he does. He has paid a concessions fee to get exclusive commercial outfitting priveledges in the area. But that does not exclude anyone else from hunting in the area. It's a free country. The outfitter camps at Rock Springs and he will have lots of hunters on the west rim as far north as Bonfisk Peak. They don't usually go much farther north than that. If you camped in Buck Hollow or on one of the ridges south of there (that's what I did), you might have the place to yourself. I hunted that area twice and got a respectable bull and a cow.

I had the best luck when I rented horses from Ferro's and rode into the bottom of the gorge around the lake. Stay below the high water line and you will always be on public land. I camped about three miles up-stream from where the Lion Gulch trail hits the creek. There are a couple of places on the east side of the creek where side gullies form box canyons with trickling waterfalls that make for great corrals and just need a few aspen poles at the entrance to keep the horses in. One thing nice about this strategy is that the outfitters hunters chase the elk down off the rim towards you.

I hunted the east rim twice and didn't like it because there were too many other hunters. But it's easy and if killing an elk is not your highest priority, then the east rim is the easiest and the most fun.

KC

Thanks again KC.

I want meat in the freezer so I am doing what I can now to give myself the best shot possible. I've scheduled a couple of weekends to go down and scout out the area, see what access is like and if I can handle the climbs with loads of meat on my back.

I did contact that wrangler on your recomendation and I'm working out the expense of including hourses in this hunt. I wasn't originally planning on that but you are persuasive in your reasoning and it sure wouldn't hurt to have the hourse power when it comes to packing everything out, elk and all.

Thanks again for all the imput.

We just got back from buying 3 of the OTC w/cap Either Sex tags for Unit 54, 2nd season.

Got mine, but couldn't get a bear tag they sold out QUICK since it was saying quota sold out at 9:25

I'm late to the party but have hunted the west side of West Elk Creek a couple times with an outfitter (Gary Ballard) in a drop camp. I've also hunted Swampy a time or two. The Rock Springs camps are usually full and they hunt all over adjacent area around camp. They do venture up toward Bonfisk but usually stay south - at least when I was there.

Hunting in the gorge will yield elk and some dang nice bulls. But there is no free lunch. I sat on the west rim and watched elk roaming around the gorge one year. I saw over 50 elk and some dang nice bulls. Most have seen the day hunt drill before and are located accordingly.

Two problems readily come to mind: 1. getting out of the canyon with an elk; 2. getting to elk. Have a real good look at the topo map of the area. There is alot of area with quasi-cliffs. You won't be traversing them.

Both problems can be illustrated by a story. The last year I hunted over there, I watched a decent bull directly below me at ~ 1000 yards. I watched him lay down and had his location figured. I called my Dad over to guide me into the area. I got down to within 300 yards of the bull but could not get around an unforeseen stream. Crossing the stream involved dropping off the bank about 6-8 feet and scaling the opposing bank of simialr magnitude. I tried for an hour and couldn't do it. It took me 45 minutes to climb back up the 6-700 yards I came. It was literally like climbing a ladder at 10,000 feet altitude.

The elk are there but require work. Another suggestion I've never shared before - try to get into the very top end of Cow Creek. There are a number of smaller meadows at the top end that sit on the south facing ridge. Dark, steep timber is on the north side and is a 5 second walk over the top. Bulls stay in the timber and pop up over the ridge to eat in those small meadows. Might have seen them do it.

Got my either sex tags for me, the boy, and son inlaw. Son inlaw just coming back from afganistan. Thankfully he will now be stationed a Fort Carson. 2nd season here we come gunnison.

I am not sure what the fall will bring yet in terms of browse and standing water. We are finally getting some rain here but like most places, dry as a bone since March I think. Water may be a key to the fall hunt. Certainly should be an issue for my bear tag too.

Thanks bwinters. This sure is a different game from hunting white tails on the ranch back home. I've got Cow Creek on my list to check out now when I'm out scouting, from the map I can see what you are saying it will be something else to when one of those bulls decides to strech his legs and get a little bite to eat.

On another note, what has been peoples experience when the weather has been so dry all summer? I know it will be much harder to sneak around, but what in terms of how it affects Elk behavior?

When it's dry, animals tend to hang within a relatively short commuter distance to water. For an elk or mule deer, that commuter distance could be anywhere between one and four miles. But, by-and-large, animals tend to hang relatively close.

Also, dry conditions which occur months ahead of a hunting season aren't as important - in a relative sense - as the actual weather or precipitation amount that occurs during the hunting season.

Just saw the list of left over tags for GMU 54 and sure enough there are 60 left over Either Sex tags availalble for the picking come August 14.

I have two weekend trips planned out for September to scout out the area and figure out what it is going to take to hunt and haul an elk out of there.

Seems like all there is left to do is keep getting in shape, spend as many hours as I can justify to my wife out at the range, and hope ole Wapiti blesses me with my ration of meat for the year.

You might check that again.I don't think the 500 tags for EE OTC w/cap for the 2nd season would be on the left over list.Two days after the OTC tags went on sale,there was 1 left last time I checked.None show now.
Would those be for 1st, 3rd, or 4th season? I don't know.

They're there for the 3rd rifle season.

Well the tag is bought, the plan ticket for my brother is purchased, and the date is set. How much longer will this damn summer last? November can not get here too soon.

On another note. I have two rifles and I'm debating which one to take. I have a .270 and a .30-06. There is much debate about which of these is the best caliber for hunting Elk, seems to be a matter of preference as far as I can tell.

Thoughts?

Take the one you shoot best.

Either one will kill an elk.

Take both rifles. Spare gun won't hurt anything.

+1

KC

6 of us low landers from Ohio will be heading out for the 2nd rifle season in GMU 54. Looking at the West Elk Creek area but I hear it's steep and all up hill on the way out.
I am not worried about getting an Elk out, the hard part will be finding the Elk. What is the best way to go in on the West side of the creek? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I can't help.I hunt the east side and ride 4 legged critters.

Well if I hunt the East side I will look for you. I will be the one gasping for air.

I'll be the one gasping for air in a cloud of steam on a red mule with a speckled blaze face.

When will you be there? We are rolling into Gunnison on the 17th of October. We are planning on staying until the 28th.

I'll be rolling into Gunnison next weekend to hunt the last week of archery season, will be backpacking into the West Elk Wilderness. With any luck, it'll be more than just an expensive camping trip.

Let me know how it goes, I would like to here your stories. I am still looking for a good camping spot above Mill Creek if you find one.

Any feed back about conditions, the rut, and where the elk are would be welcome.

Other posts are saying they are starting to get active and hanging out around 9,500+ feet. Some moisture has begun to fall in the high country and the weather up there is cooling off.

Good luck

Will be there the second rifle season, husband and I taking mules (this will be their third western states hunt) to ride and pack, meeting a friend there. Who knows, we might all end up gettin coffee and pie someplace together!

Would like to hear your stories over pie and coffee. We'll be the ones in the wall tent with maroon Ford truck and Maroon Ford Excursion. Bring your group and lets tell some stories.

Anybody on here ever check out soap creek during 2nd rifle? One of the guys in my group thinks it could be the cats meow because the outfitter in that area told him they kill a lot of bulls real close to camp. Looks like it should be a pumkin patch to me but I've never been there.

Were at on soap creek? it runs north /south on western side of 54. It is several miles long.

Probably anywhere from the reservoir to as far north as we can drive for a base camp, most of the guys in my group like to camp close to the truck and make little 3-4 mile loops out from there!

nick62:

You can camp in the Big Soap Park in early August and be surrounded by so many elk that they keep you awake at night. But they won't be there during rifle hunting season.

I've hunted out of a base camp at the end of the Soap Creek Road several times. You can drive all the way into Big Soap Park with a 4X4 vehicle. It will take about an hour to drive the last five miles. There will be other camps in there for sure and there won't be any elk out in the open. No one kills bulls close to base camp. Who ever claimed that bulls are killed close to camp is full of $hit. You have to day hike or backpack up out of the basin to get into elk.

We setup a comfortable base camp in Big Soap Park then did short backpack hunts up out of the basin onto the ridges to the east and northeast between the basin and the ridge top. We would sit on a point not too far from our little backpack tents and wait for the elk to show. East Soap Creek, specially the east slopes above the creek, has yielded some good bulls.

A lot of the horses that Ferros rents are used by people who setup base camps in Big Soap Park.

KC

Our plans have changed. We are now renting a condo in Crested Butte. Means most likely we'll be hunting the Axtell/Whetstone/Carbon areas.

Any one been out in this area as of late? How has it been? Any elk moving down out of the Soap Creek area yet or are they staying high as long as possible?

2 weeks and counting till 3rd rifle, any info is appriciated.

Was over on the east side of the unit 1st rifle, hunters everywhere! Thought for a while it was opening day of pheasant season in Western Kansas. We had horses and mules, rode in 5-8 miles each day and most of the meadows had camps in them. We had 3 guys with either/or tags and my cow tag, saw one legal animal.

On another note.

Does anyone know anything about the private land tags in this area? Are those for any private property or do the properties need to be a certain size?

Any one from around the area that may know a private land owner that would be grateful to get an elk off of his property or know where to go to begin to locate said land owner?

wshep820:

Those tags are good for any private land within the specified boundaries. Getting permission is the hard part. The landowners submit crop damage claims but won't let anyone hunt on their property. I suppose that it might be fruitful to contact the local office of the Div Wildlife & Parks in Gunnison and inquire who has made claims for crop damage in the past. Let me know if you have any luck. I would be happy to join you.

KC

Great idea KC. I was wondering what the Div of Wildlife might know about it. If they don't or can't provide me with names they may be able to point me in a frutiful direction.

I'll let you know if I find out anything.

No elk in Soap creek Basin but if you hiked up top there were lots of elk. The higher the better.

Thanks DayPacker.

You said were going out 2nd season with your son and son in-law. How did it go?

Daypacker:

That's kind of what I was guessing because of the warm/dry conditions. I saw the best forage up high when I hiked through the upper basins a month ago. We will be backpacking in a week from now and we will camp at 10,000' and hunt uphill from there.

Did you get over onto the east side of the ridge so you could look down into the West Elk Creek gorge?

KC

Anyone had any success here this year especially in the West Elk Creek Gorge area?

What's the weather like out there? How much, if any, snow has fallen in the higher elevations?

My brother and I are backpacking in this Friday to the area to get away from the crouds on the east rim. Any info from anyone about what is going on would be greatly appriciated.

wshep

About 4 inches fell Thusday but the elk stayed high above 10,200. Everyone was telling me the elk were still at high elevations.

The weather is beautiful.

The West Elk Wilderness produced for us again, as usual. We went three for three on cow elk. We had backpacked in about seven miles but shot the elk closer than that. That's the 3rd year in a row that elk have been in the same area. So next year we'll probably backpack in a shorter distance.

I thought that they might be found at high altitude so I climbed up into a little hollow at about 11,200' on opening morning. They had been there. I saw nine beds in the snow that had frozen solid so they were at least 1 1/2 days old but who knows how much older they were. They had probably hidden up there during the first and second season but all the tracks were leading down from there by the time that I got there. I saw six more frozen beds at 10,400' and tracks were going in every direction.

Ryan saw a nice bull on Saturday at about 9,600' elevation but couldn't get a decent shot, so he shot a cow, about 5 1/2 miles from the trailhead. It was pretty obvious that our camp seven miles in, was in the wrong location so on Sunday afternoon we moved camp. Along the way, Jason and I shot two cows out of a small herd that was lounging around in a small meadow as we came around a bend in the trail at about 4 1/4 miles from the trailhead.

We carried out most of the camp in backpacks on Monday morning. We had a rented horse boarded at a ranch near the trailhead and used her to go back in for the elk and the rest of our camp. We were done by Wednesday afternoon. The weather was fairly mild for elk hunting.

KC

KC.Entirely difernt story along the Anthracites. In 10 days we saw 8 elk. I never saw a hair. Forage was good at 10,500 and that is where the cows were seen. Down lower, grazing leases has stripped the entire area bare, down to dirt almost.

Crystal Creek, Little Pass and Pass creek were devoid of elk.The last day, I cut about 1/2 dozen tracks over closer to the Castles after that snow, but they were long gone by day break.

Tenderfoot outfitters took about 6 bulls the 1st season and two cows, one bull and one cow the 2nd season. Thier drop camps took zero. The bull was killed all the way up on Storm Pass at 12,000 ft.

I sent a couple NR over towards that honey hole I told you about,but they never got into it.

This was the 1st year in many that I did not see any elk or kill on einrifle season,but admit I was hunted out by the last day and my health kept me from hunting as hard as I wanted to.Good thing I put a cow inthe freezer during ML season. 6 hunters and one cow was tagged.

KC:

Congratulations on another successful West Elk season.

Happy Veteran's Day. Thanks again for your service.

plainview:

Thank you. It was an honor to serve.

KC

Vince:

We hunted that honey hole on Sunday morning but they had moved down near private property. All of our elk and those that a few other people had taken were within a mile of private property.

KC

Glad to hear you found the Elk. When we were there it did seem the Elk were below 10,000.

KC. We talked to Tom Evans and another rancher and they both said most of the elk were near the valley floor eating in those hay fields at night.Tom Evans owns all the land up against the NF below Swampy Pass trail head. He owned Tenderfoot Outfitters for a few years after Steve Pike sold it.

Thanks KC, saddlesore, bwinters, and everyone else for the information and tips. My time in the West Elk Creek Gorge was unfortunately short but the Elk were right where you said they would be. It made for an interesting time.

1st weekend of 3rd rifle I was by myself and took KC's advice and hiked over to Buck Hollow. I ran into some people on hourse back that were camped at the rainbow lake trail at the bottom of the gorge and hunting the hollow. I made my way up onto the ridge and started hunting down the N side in the steep timber. Just before dusk I spooked 2 Cows out of their beds. Scared the crap out of me. I camped in Buck Hollow and due to time contraint I hiked out the next day.

The 2nd weekend of 3rd rifle I had my brother with me who flew up from Texas to help out. I changed the plan because I was pretty sure that he would't be able to handle the hike to and from Buck Hollow so we camped on the E side of South Baldy around 11,600 along a creek on Thur night. The plan was to move around S Baldy in a counter clockwise fasion staying between 11,000 and 10,000 ft. As we got into the steep stuff on the W side of baldy my brother slipped in the fresh snow and slid about 50 yds down the mountain twisting his knee. Fortunately it was not a serious injury but, after doing some real honset looking at the situation he admited that he would be hard pressed to make it out just caring the gear we brought it. We had to call it quits. As we were making our way back we droped down a little lower to some less steep terain and came across a lot of elk tracks. Fresh sign everywhere. Just crushed me and him to have to quit when we had a fresh trail to follow.

On the way home we almost ran over an Elk standing in the middle of Hwy 50. He'd been shot in the belly, you could see the blood around the wound and his tounge hanging out of his mouth but there wasn't much we could do except report it. I did consider how long it would take to get him in the truck if I shot him right there but he made up my mind for me and took off like a drunk after the bar closed.

Already looking forward to next year and if my brother gets hurt this time I'm going to leave him for the cyotes.