Let me preface by admitting I'm a novice elk hunter. This question may be weak.

I'm going on my second elk hunt ever in southwest Colorado. Its in mid-October, it may be warm, it may have a few feet of snow. My question is about how to figure out at what elevation the elk will be hanging out.

What clues, (like a snow storm the week before, temperatures in the 80s, etc) would tell me to start my hunt above treeline or in the bottom canyons.

Or will they be spread across a range of altitudes? I just returned from scouting and there was a ton of grass at elevations from 8 to 10K feet, and plenty of tree cover. Water was plentiful.

Thanks in advance.

They will likely be high. They don't start moving down until theres a good bit of snow. First or second season, you'll be finding them pretty much at their summer altitude. Third or fourth season will depend on the amount of snow, if any. If they can find food, a lot of times they won't move down till the snow gets deeper.

I'm a novice too, but like Larry said, High, and on North facing slopes.

Gunner

You mentioned "above tree line." IME, by the second rifle season you won't find elk in the open above timberline during hunting hours unless you're in a place other hunters can't get to. The timber right below will be good though.

Good luck!

A lot is going to depend on how much feed they have available. If you're in one of the super dry areas and the feed is all gone up high, they'll be scattered out in other places looking for something to eat, and dodging the Orangemen on their atv's.

In general, Elk will be as high as they can go, and still have food and water.

Good advice.

I appreciate it guys.

Someone mentioned north-facing slopes, east-facing tend to be similar in timber and cover in that part of the state, maybe a little more open. That's where they'll be during the day, but the south- and west-facing slopes tend to have the best feed and they'll be somewhere near the best feed. So if you can locate the good timber near those areas with good feed, so much the better.

What is lush grass right now, may be dry tinder by October. last year ( dry also) they were 8-10K in ML season, but by 2nd rifle season, they were in the bottom land where there was a little bit of water.

The only way to figure out where elk are is to be mobile in the season. If they are not high, go lower and if not lower, go higher. Anyone who says they can predetermine this hasn't hunted elk much, especially in the drought that Colorado is suffering now.

SS, where I was last year, they were above 10K during ML for the most part. Lot's of good feed and cover up there though. Like you said, keep moving till you find 'em.

That is what we found. Cows were a bit lower than you found. Then in 2nd rifle season, I saw about 100 head on the alfalfa pivots as you enter Johnsons Corner from the east ( 24 & 285). that was 6-7000 ft. We only saw 5-6 cows at 10,000 ft in 2nd rifle and they were just moving thru, but hunters reported seeing quite a few more down in the hay fields at dusk, north of Gunnison.

Never saw elk in those fields, but the two times I've been past they've been chocked full of mule deer. We must have just missed each other this past fall, I was there the Monday before 2nd rifle.

Besides what has been said. Keep in mind the elk have been through bow, muzzy, and 1st rifle seasons.

You're going to find them where the fewest hunters are.

Mauser, I will be hunting First rifle, but I expect them to be hidden.

The Drought in Colorado is the Good Lord's way of making the prettiest state with the most elk endure letting the liberals take it over.:)

Saddlesore nailed it. It they aren't where you are hunting, move. I ran into a group of out of state bowhunters hiking out of a basin. They had been there 8 days and hadn't seen an elk. But, they did say they had done plenty of homework.

Get to primo vantage points, break out the spotting scope, and let the elk tell you.

There's a reason they're called the "Ghosts of the Forrest".

They move a lot if pushed at all. Now that the wolves are thick the elk rarely stay in an area for long. It's a matter of them avoiding the predators. They've also become noticeably quiet. They still bugle but not as much. The wolves last year were running through people chasing what they thought were elk and it was hunters cow calling.
I grew up hunting by spot & stalk, or putting myself in thier travel path. Now I'm living in a different area, much thicker, where glassing isn't very useful and the wolves are changing the game. I feel like I'm a noob starting over.

Last year, 2nd rifle, I got into a spot about 9500ft, north face, dark timber. I could smell 'em, but, I couldn't see them... Knew they had been there. But, either a day late, or I had bumped 'em and didn't know it...

I am a noobie. This is a good thread. Got me thinking about my strategy and tactics...

Last year we found lots of elk literally in the back yards in Ketchum, ID. I got mine 3 miles up the road on top of a 2000' ridge. They are where they want to be at any given time.

Learning to be mobile has made a big difference in the success rate for my group. Go where the elk are. If you are not seeing them you are in the wrong place.

The other thing that has helped its staying in the field longer. When I hunted opening weekend, sometimes Monday and on rare occasion Tuesday, getting elk was less frequent than now, when I pretty much hunt the full season.

If seeing a lot of elk means seeing a lot of cows and younger bulls, that's great - if you are after cows or younger bulls.

But if you are after older bulls and it is not the rut, does an abundance of cows, calves, young bulls tell you much about older, mature bulls?

My experience is limited so I'm just looking for other opinions.

Brent after the rut those old bulls pretty much find a place to hole up and stay there until the snow drives them out or someone finds him and kills him or harasses him enough he goes to another hidey spot.
There will still be the occasional real good bull with the cows, but the old experienced monarchs will be off by themselves.

Those will be the ones I'll be hunting this fall. But following my normal elk-hunting history, I'll probably end up killing a youngster. But I won't be seduced by large numbers of younger bulls and cows if I can help it.

Tiz always better to eat spike , than to have another fully intact license in the scrap book

Not always actually. But we will see how it all turns out in the end. In the meantime, I have some elk load development I want to do.

In Southern CO they are pretty much at all elevations. I've run into real nice bulls from 7,500' (lowest point where I'm hunting) to well over 10k. The common theme is that it is in thick timber where I find them. I see these videos of guys shooting bulls in open fields during rifle season and I can only think that must be private land or something. I don't even see fresh sign of them entering open terrain with any reqularity on the public land I hunt on. I watched some cows and two real small bulls enter a field last season in an attempt to travel across and I could hear the herd bull bugling in the woods. He finally stuck his nose into the field for about 10 seconds and then ran back into the woods screaming. He skirted around the field staying in the woods and the small herd cut back into the woods to rejoin with him and then they continued on their merry way. I had already shot mine, which was too bad, he was a real solid 6x6.

In October, I will be hunting the second rifle season in CO for the third time. The first two years, my hunting buddy and I have not been successful. We have hunted higher and lower elevations and pretty much everything in between. Hopefully this year, our luck will change. Hey, we are deer hunters from OK. We are hunting the West Elk Mountains from a drop camp at around 10,000 ft in elevation. We will be on our own for a week with only minimum guidance from our outfitter on the day he drops us off at the camp. He indicated that 2 hunters got decent bulls from the camp last year. While we hope for success, regardless, it will be an adventure. Can't wait!

Did some archery hunts in south central near the divide the past few years. Didn't take long to figure out if elk were in the area or not. Tried a couple "high remote" places and found more boot prints than elk sign. Moved a few miles down the road and found a little group of elk less than a mile from a main road. Poked around in there for a few days and got some cows and a small bull close, but couldn't get them in bow range. That was early archery. The last weekend after muzzleloader, same elk were in the same place. I think the little hole was so close to the main road it went overlooked. There were about 4 waller's, fresh tracks, and the smell of the big critters. I never closed the deal, but it was fun trying. Never really blew them out either.

Last year my buddy arrowed his 360" bull right at 11,000 feet in southern Colorado.

We camped at 8500' and found elk at 10,000' and up.