What is the elk hunting like in Colorado GMU 76?

I accompanied a friend on several scouting trips when he was hunting bighorns there. I've hunted across the Divide in Sawatch Park. But never hunted around Creede.

Who has hunted elk in unit 76. What can you tell me about the area?

KC

Been a while but backpacked up on the north side of the reservoir several times. Lots of medium size 6 points in 76 during the summer, archery, ML, and first seasons. Later seasons the elk come down and get hammered in the OTC units, keeping the bulls on the youngish side. Of course on occasion some bulls live long enough to get pretty big.

In the mid 90's two guys from Gunnison videoed the elk herds on the tundra for a couple summers. It was quite impressive--nursery herds of 200-400 head together, big bachelor groups of bulls in the 300-325 B&C range.

I've read before in CDOW reviews that 76 has a general shortage of "big" bulls, but if that's the case, why does it take so many points to draw a tag there?

is it just loaded with elk?

I've spent some summer vacation time up around there, and it looks plenty elky, but I haven't done much hiking there.

there was a bad fire there a while back, and it really scarred the area between Southfork and Creede. we drove the backroads checking it out and were surprised that the fire was SEVERAL years old, and not much re-growth had taken root. This would have been summer of 2014. Might be considerably different now.

I have ZERO hunting experience there. Just telling you what I've seen and heard.

Member

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 207
I’ve been meaning to post something about this. I drew the early rifle tag this year. I wanted a wilderness pack in type of hunt so my primary interest was the area south of the river. I spent a week there in August backpacking into some of the drainages. Lots and lots of elk around, and no people beyond the trailheads. I caught some excellent cutthroat trout as well. I decided on Chief Mountain as my first choice place to hunt, and the area above Big Ruby lake as my second. Ute creek had a permanent outfitter camp and the better areas were a bit farther than I wanted to go. I also went up to Weminuche pass, where I did see a few bow hunters. That spot didn’t feel as good.

My wife and llamas and I arrived 2 days before the opener. At the trailhead for Chief Mountain we ran into an outfitter who it turns out had a camp for hunters close to where I planned to camp. He did not seem happy to see us and told me he was damn discouraged as all the elk had moved out of the area. I was skeptical about the elk having moved out, but didn’t want to deal with a grumpy outfitter and hunters, so we moved over to Fern lake trail to go up to Big Ruby lake. There was an outfitter there too, but a hell of nice guy named Greg Pearson of Long Ridge Outfitters. He opined that there was plenty of room, told me where his camp was, and mentioned some spots that might be good. We camped at the trailhead,and could hear a bugle now and then as we went to sleep. Next morning we packed in 5 miles to Big Ruby and set up camp and poke around for the rest of the day. Next morning was the opener and I went to a spot about a mile from camp that I had scouted in August. Out in a large alpine basin I found a large bull and some cows. The problem was it had snowed 2 days ago, then the sky cleared, snow melted some, then a cold night so the snow now was very crunchy. There was a drainage I could use to keep out of sight for a stalk but I was afraid they would hear me crunching though the snow. I sat about 700 yards out thinking and watching him and listening to him bugle. I thought maybe I could wait for the sun to soften up the snow some.

After I had been sitting for about 10 minutes another bull started bugling in the timber close by, and cows started coming out. More bugles, then the bull in the photos appeared. This was about 0830. Before the hunt started I had decided I wasn’t going to pass one on opening day that I would be happy with on closing day so I took the shot at 160 yds. I had decided I wanted to leave the meat on bone for 24 hours (see thread in General Big Game) so I field dressed, then took the quarters off but left the back straps on. Went back to camp and enjoyed some whiskey with my wife. Problem is when I came back next morning 2 bears and dragged off a front and a hind quarter, and eaten about 1/4 from each. Dang. Nonetheless I got lots of great meat. I have already eaten some and it is not gamely or rutty at all.

So my thoughts about 76:
1. It is great to be in the San Juans in October. Lots and lots of elk, great mountain scenery, few people. After leaving the trailhead I never saw another hunter.
2. Every drainage that is good pack in to and hunt has one or more outfitter camps in it. On the other hand, it is big country. I am used to hunting around home in Unit 18 which is heavily hunted bow season through late season. There is no place to avoid people.
3. The wilderness trailheads (Fern Creek, Thirty Mile, and Ute Creek) have nice big dispersed campsites with room for stock.
4. All the locals I talked to around Creede were nice and helpful, even the hipsters in the backpacking store in Creede. The local Parks and Wildlife officer is a good guy. If you call CPW in Del Norte they will give you his cell phone number.
5. Was it worth 17 points? Damn right it was, at least for me. I wanted a back country hunt in the high mountains more than I wanted antler size. I am aware that 76 doesn’t produce bulls as big as the northwest units do. I wanted a different experience.
6. Sadly I likely won’t live long enough to do it again, unless I buy a landowner voucher...which I wont. After I killed that bull we spent a couple more days in the area just soaking it all in.
7. It seems that there are good places to hunt in 76 without packing in.

September and first week of October in the San Juans is my favorite place to be--ever.

great story, RiverDog! sounds like a good hunt.

I put a couple photos in the image gallery. Couldn’t get them to post here.

Casey:

Thanks for the info.

Which reservoir? Santa Maria or Rio Grande?

KC

KC,

South and a little west of Rio Grande Reservoir.

Although I don't have as many PP's as you, I'm kinda' looking around too. Things have changed for me with the timing of the seasons, more people getting into the back
country and screwing up some of my "hotspots", and preference point creep that seemed to jump quite a bit in the last two years (thanks to a booming population of "lifestyle" immigrants).

Plus, in west-central part of the state elk populations, calf recruitment, and success rate has declined. CPW is becoming concerned, and I wouldn't be surprised to see cow tags reduced even more in coming years, putting more pressure on other PP elk hunts and OTC units.

riverdog:

Thanks for your reply.

KC

KC, 61 is probably better than 76, I think you have enough points for the early first season. I drew 61 2nd season three years ago.

I'd second that, on unit 61. Much easier access to most of the unit too.

beanman & smokepole:

Please tell me more about GMU 61. I've not seen much of that area. It's on the west slope of the Uncompahgre Plateau, isn't it? Looks pretty steep. Why is access easier?

KC

Jeep trails and roads abound. Parts are steep in the canyons but not all of it is. Lots of bulls over there. More than I've seen or heard anywhere else on the national forest.

KC -
I've hunted unit 76 twice and unit 61 three times in the past 10 years or so.
I don't think you would go wrong with either area. I think the altitude and terrain is the biggest difference.
Describing them is kind of like the story of the blind man and the elephant - lot of it depends on where you are.
The high altitude hunting in Unit 76 might be well suited to a mountaineer alpine type like yourself.
I have always seen nice bulls in both units.
One possible difference - I believe that 76 offers an early rifle season - prior to 1st season.

In 76 the North Fork fire was enormous and the much of the forest that survived the burn isn't healthy. Regardless, there were still elk in both those places when I was there 4 years ago. Lot of hunting above treeline too. A number of hunting parties that I know hunt above treeline in 76. We found elk up here the day I took this photo even though it looks unsuitable for man or beast. In early season you wouldn't have to deal with this of course


On another day in 76.



I saw nice bulls almost every day in Unit 61 last week. It is probably even much better in early rifle season.
This bull had a nice black mane. Too bad I couldn't get the mostly obscured bull in the photo but there are some very cool bulls on 61 sporting these jet black manes.


One thing I like about 61 is starting high on the divide and hunting down, instead of having to climb. 1st rifle season in 61 can be very warm.

This is a summer scouting photo from 61. This is down on one of the remote benches. My dog is disappearing into the 5 ft high ferns. This is a trail believe it or not. I noticed right away that the bear sheit here is not composed of seeds and berries, it is hair and bone instead. We left shortly after taking this picture.


Couple more from unit 61 last week





For some other references check the YouTube video by Randy Newberg on hunting 61. There are some links somewhere on this forum.
For some great photos of the elk herds in 76 search the Colorado forum at Monster Muleys for posts by rocketman - probably at least 5 years old now - be sure to check search archives.

Good luck with whichever you choose.
PM sent

Alamosa, Is that ‘trail’ photo Frank’s Bench? How was the cow hunting? KC, I’d be happy toi talk to you about 61, I live close to it so we camp up there a lot (no mosquitoes compared to Grand Mesa), shot a nice bull during 2nd season three years ago, and have scouted it a bit.

Ya. I had always heard of Franks Bench as being a 'Jurassic Park' type of place. It did not disappoint.
It was on my bucket list.
I had attempted to go there years before but never made it until now.
There were no cows there (but we found some other places).
We saw the remains of a nice bull someone had killed there in an early season.



There were bulls on this shaded slope above the bench but it took 1/2 day just to get to the place where I took this picture.
I do not think anyone could hunt this without equestrian support.

I scouted Frank's bench four years ago in the early spring. There were so many bear poop piles on the trail you could hardly take a step without hitting one. I recognize the shaded ridge too.

eggsalent pics, Alamosa.

I'll never draw a tag for these areas, so always happy to ride along via the 'Fire.

KC, I know you'll document your hunt well and share, so I'm already looking forward to your hunt.

KC,

Both 61 and 76 have early-early seasons starting about the 1st of October. CPW just started these last year (and I'm strongly opposed to it but CPW ignored me ) 20 PP's will get you a license. It's like carrying a rifle during archery season. I would choose those seasons before I would choose one of the northwest units--hands down.

Agree with alpine crick...I went for the 76 early rather than the northwest units and I am very happy that I did. I got the early season with 17 points. The whole thing was great: looking at maps and google earth after the draw, planning, backpacking the drainages in August and September, hanging out in Creede, then packing in that last glorious week of September. I love the high alpine. I love the desert too but for an elk hunt I’ll take the alpine.

My recollection is that CPW started the early season in 61 in 2016, but they have been doing it in 76 for about 10 years.

AlpineC, why the opposition to the early seasons?

My family hunted Unit 76 for 50 years before Colo DOW decided to make it a quality unit. There are not only lots of elk, but some nice bucks. My buddy killed a 171 B&C green scored muley in October in Unit 76. It is disappointing that it takes so many points to draw a license there. In 2005, my father and I stopped on Hwy 149, he hopped the fence, walked 60 yards and killed a 5 point bull. That same year, I picked out a timbered slope, climbed up to it and still hunted across, killing a 6 pointer. That was the last time I hunted there. The elk are in there, but I cannot speak to trophy quality.

We don't need more folks in there pushing elk into "refuges" (mostly private land). CPW is doing this primarily to burn off PP's for folks like KC with excessive points. We already have 6 seasons from Sept to almost end of Nov. Now that the regular rifle seasons are starting a week later, it gives the critters two weeks to settle down, even move off private land in some cases. Sticking an extra rifle season in there runs counter to CPW single biggest management challenge--private land refuges.

In 76, the early-early season does make a bit more sense because 1) it gives the rifle hunter the opportunity to hunt high when there are more elk up there still (with the seasons starting a week later it has made one of my high altitude "hotspots" untenable because the elk are out of there after the first 10 days of October. 2) The private land around 76 is mostly a long ways away and it takes a while for the elk to work their way down there (where they run a gauntlet of OTC units which is why the bulls tend not make it past a certain age)

61 is an entirely different story. The lower reaches are private (which means the only way to get yourself or an elk out is UP--I hate walking UP to camp or the truck in the afternoon when I'm tired and trying to figure where the hell the truck has parked itself), the southern 20% is private. That early-early season serves to move elk out of areas they would otherwise be.

And in both cases it's practically 1st degree murder--it's almost like carrying a rifle during archery season (watch now everybody is going to be applying for those seasons.........)

Having said all that, it's only like 20 licenses in each unit and if I was sitting on 17+ PP's I would apply in a heartbeat.

But I am not about to wait 20 years to draw a unit, there are lots of work-arounds in the limited entry hunts that still give me a decent chance to chase mature bulls.

Although it's become tougher--there has been a fair jump in preference point creep the last two years. At some point CPW is going to have to change the system, even though we hunters demanded limited entry deer/elk units and PP system 25-35 years ago, it's no longer workable for the average hunter.

Yep. My camp in 76 was at 11,000 ft. I got my first preference point by accident 17 years ago...made a mistake on my application and applied for the wrong unit. After that I just kept applying for a point as my first choice. Nowadays there are some units/seasons that I’d like to hunt that don’t require points but do require being first choice on the application so I decided to get rid of my points. I had a most excellent hunt and now won’t be in the point game anymore.

At 60 years old, when I burn this set of points, I'll be doing the same thing.

Two years a go I shot a cow standing next to a 330-340 bull and all it would've taken is a 1st choice with 0 points to have a bull tag in my hand instead............sheesh.

Please guys keep the conversation going. I'm getting a good education about those two units.

I've got several months to make the final decision before submitting my application. The trend seems to be aiming me in the direction of 76.

KC

KC,

Have you watched Randy Newberg's Unit 61 video? I know he's on here as Bigfin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyiVnVXkqn0

Keep in mind, Mother Nature may conspire against you. I’ve got two friends who drew 61 in the l last two years. One in first season, the other this year in 2nd season. They knew the unit fairly well but had the kind of weather Randy Newburgh had in his hunt video. They did not tag an elk in either of those seasons and they hunted hard every day. This year in second season they only had one chance at a good bull and a cow elk blew the whistle on them as they were closing for the shot. We can’t control what the weather will be like next year but I would look very hard at the moon phase. A full moon and warm weather is not a great combination since the elk can feed all night, return to sanctuary, and won’t bugle for very long in the early morning and hardly at all in the evening. (The bugling is assumed for a first season hunt and maybe a bit during 2nd). That’s why I would suggest applying for the early 1st rifle since you have a bunch of points especially since the new season dates for 1st rifle have been pushed back one week which is one week further from the rut. Bugling is really going to help you locate elk. It might be different at altitude in 76 since 61 is fairly low altitude but I have no experience in 76.

Not to hijack the thread, KC, but...

While a full moon and warm weather are not good news for the elk hunter, it is proven that elk don't need the moon to see at night. I have numerous game camera photos of elk feeding in pitch black darkness. Would be interesting to hear a biologist chime in on this subject.

Casey:

That was a fun video to watch. Thanks for posting it.

I've done a lot of hunts just like that one in the West Elk Wilderness, unit 54. I packed a couple of bulls out of the West Elk Creek gorge, when I was in my fifties. The terrain was as tough. Only the bulls were smaller.

Randy did that hunt in November. I will apply for the early season hunt, first week of October, during the peak of the rut. That early hunt is offered in both units.

I wish there was a video for the Upper Rio Grande. I'm still leaning towards unit 76 because I love the high altitude ecology.

KC

BeanMan:

Yep. The early first season rifle hunt, first week of October, seems like the best opportunity.

KC

I’m not saying elk don’t feed at night without a full moon but it has been my experience that they will be less likely to move during the daylight hours when there is a full moon. I will avoid hunting under a full moon when I can.

RE the burned areas: The West Fork Complex fires burned a lot of 76 in 2013. Most of the area I explored south of Rio Grande Resevoir was not burned. The area I hunted was near the fire, and the Fern Creek Trail I took in to hunt goes through an extensive burn. There is lots of new aspen and grass growth, and it seemed like there ought to be elk there, but we saw no sign. It would be tough to hunt and the new aspens growth is thick and about head high or a little higher. Various people told me that the elk population was increasing in the burned areas, but I saw no evidence of that in the admittedly small area of the burn I explored.

THere is a good description of the fire on Wikipedia and if you google search you will find maps of the burned areas.

2 weeks ago I was in the timber at daylight with 5-6" of fresh snow that ended late the previous afternoon. 250 sets of elk tracks later, 249 of them going downhill obviously in the middle of the night (but there was a moon out). The one confused bull that was sidehilling I managed to run down and kill him...............

I like the high country too, KC. Unit 61 is west facing and can be warm, even hot in September into early October--one reason I stopped archery hunting it back in the 80's. For a early October hunt, 76 would be more appealing. It's just that 61 is figuratively and literally my backyard.

KC, still working on posting photos, but I have some from 76 last month.

I prolly will never hunt 61, but my wife has enough points for a first rifle cow hunt and we think we will do that next year, so I will still get the experience.

Smokepole, you mentioned in another thread somewhere that you weren’t impressed with Accubond performance on elk. Just curious as to why. This bull was the 5th elk I have killed with a 150gr Accubond, .308 Winchester, at about 2850 FPS. Ranges 50 to 200yd. Each was a one shot kill with exit wound, no bullets recovered. Admittedly a small sample but so far they work great for me.

I wonder how many of the guys/gals on this forum will be heading to either of these two units next year,or at least applying for them because of this thread?

All the ones that have enough points but don’t have enough points for 2/201/10.

I know, I know...........

The thing is, it's a lot more rugged terrain, and the elk aren't quite as much in full view as 2/201/10.................

Some will be sorely disappointed.

There is plenty of people that are really bad at reading statistics that will never give up their Moffat County dream.

The upper Rio Grande is above the lower Rio Grande