Bruce:
Here's an article that might interest you.
ELK HUNTING IN COLORADO
If you expect
to start do-it-yourself
elk hunting in Colorado, Wyoming or any other western state and go home with a 6x6 bull on your first hunt, and that's the only thing that will make it worth the effort, then don't bother, because those expectations probably won’t be realized. I love the high mountains, especially alpine ecosystems at or above timberline; hiking, camping, backpacking, sightseeing, climbing and occasionally wetting a line. I live in
elk country and in the late 1970’s, I started
hunting elk because it was an excuse
to go
to the mountains after the climbing season was over. For the first few years all I managed
to do was carry a rifle while hiking and camping. Eventually I figured out a few basic
hunting skills, I picked a
hunting area and hunted it year after year until I knew it like my back yard, and that's when I started being successful at bringing home meat and antlers. In Colorado only 25% of
elk hunters are successful and that includes hunters who have killed cow
elk. I've often heard it said that 25% of the hunters kill 75% of the
elk because the experienced
elk hunters are most successful at killing animals.
However, if you expect
to enjoy yourself camping,
hunting, hiking, and viewing eye-popping wilderness beauty while learning
to hunt
elk, and you expect
to do it several times, then get ready for adventure. Everyone who hunts
elk with the right attitude will be successful if they enjoy themselves and Mother Nature. Be content, hunt hard and realize that you are alive and in the mountains.
My first
elk camp in 1978.
For over twenty years, I got an
elk almost every year. Sometimes I got both a cow and a bull. My
hunting buddies rarely got an
elk and one guy asked me why. I replied that there are no secrets
to hunting elk. You already know what you have
to do
to be successful. But most people won't or can't do what it takes
to be successful.
You have
to hunt every day of the entire season. You should arrive at camp no later than the day before opening day and don't leave until the day after the last day of the season. You can't expect
to be successful if you hunt on just the weekend or if you hunt for just part of the season.
Inside the wall tent at our
elk hunting base camp, 1993
You have
to hunt all day. The most productive times
to hunt are just after dawn and just before sunset. So if you want
to hunt during those times you have
to do most of your hiking
to and from the truck or camp, in the dark. Stay in the field for the entire day. Don't go back
to camp for lunch. The first hour after sunrise is worth all of the rest of them right up
to the last half hour before the sun sets, which is worth all the rest of them combined.
You have
to learn
to think like an
elk. Pretend that you are an
elk and you know that hunters are trying
to kill you. Imagine where you would go and what you would do
to stay alive. Then go there and do that. That's how you find
elk. Hiding in the local bar doesn’t count.
You have
to hunt the places that others won't or can't. Get away from the roads and hunt in the mean nasty hollows, where it's hard
to get into and hard
to get out of. Hunt where the
elk are. 75% of the
elk live in 25% of the available suitable habitat. You need
to find out where that 25% area is and spend your time there. It’s valuable when learning
to hunt
elk to go with the attitude that killing a cow would be great. The big bulls will come in time, after you’ve educated yourself. Once you've committed
to do all that, you can employ the following strategies.
ELK HUNTING STRATEGIES
#1: BE SAFE WITH YOUR RIFLE: Assume that any firearm is loaded unless the breech is open and you can see that it's empty. Always point the muzzle in a safe direction and never point your rifle at anything unless you intend
to shoot it. Don't rely on the safety. Carry your rifle with the chamber empty and the safety on. Don't chamber a round until you spot a target. Never shoot at a target unless you are sure what it is, sure you can hit it and sure of what's behind it.
#2: BE PROFICIENT WITH YOUR RIFLE: Always make a clean, quick, humane kill. In order
to do this you must be proficient with your rifle. No matter how good you have been in the past, you need
to practice several times each summer
to ensure that you are current. Don't just sight in your rifle. You must practice
to ensure that your rhythm is smooth and habitual and you can hit what you aim at. Practice at 200 yards and 300 yards so that you can determine in the field, if you should take that shot. Also, get off the bench and practice in the prone position resting your rifle on a daypack and also in the sitting position. There never seems
to be a bench rest in the field just where you want it.
#3: BE IN GOOD SHAPE: Altitude sickness is a real concern in the mountains. You need
to be in good cardio/pulmonary condition
to deal with it. Drink lots of liquids, take Aspirin and Tums in order
to minimize the effects of dehydration and Acute Mountain Sickness. It's really endurance breathing that you need
to develop before you arrive at high elevation. Bicycling, climbing stairs, swimming and high altitude hiking are excellent exercises for this purpose.
Also, everyone must do their share and you can't do that if you can't hike the hills, and haul out your share of the game, collect firewood, carry water, setup & break down camp, etc. If you are in bad physical condition, then you will be miserable and you will not enjoy the adventure.
Elk hunting requires a lot of walking through potentially rough terrain. It’s not like
hunting whitetails where you can pattern an animal then wait for him
to walk by. You have
to find the
elk and it usually takes a lot of hiking
to do that. Then hope that they stay put long enough that you can figure out how
to get
to one.
#4: SCOUT, SCOUT, SCOUT: You need
to know your
hunting area like your back yard. Don’t expect
to travel
to Colorado and be successful the first year. Pick an area and hunt that same area year after year. That’s how
to get
to know your
hunting grounds. Take camping/hiking trips and backpack trips into your
hunting area in the summer. Know where their winter range is, where their summer range is and where the migration routes are that connect the two. Know where the game trails are concentrated crossing saddles on ridges, where the bedding areas are
to be found, where the water holes are located, where the hideouts are, where there are gentle terraces on north-facing slopes.
This photo was taken summer 2010 scouting trip. We won’t find them here during
hunting season. They will be hiding in the dark timber. But at least I know they are there somewhere.
Buy US Forest Service maps, USGS maps, county maps and BLM maps of your area. These maps contain different information. Copy this information onto the USGS maps. You can only reasonably hunt the area on one USGS 7.5' map. But as luck would have it, the best
hunting area is usually where several maps come together. Tape the maps together. Memorize your map. Update it with field data from your scouting trips. You now have a map containing information in a way that no one else has. In the off-season, I spend time on Google Earth and I like
to switch back and forth between that site and a USGS map site. All this helps me get a better feel for the country.
#5: HUNT WHERE THE
ELK ARE: Seventy-five percent (75%) of the
elk live in twenty-five percent (25%) of the available habitat. You can waste a lot of time
hunting unproductively in an area where there is always some thin sign but never enough sign
to indicate the presence of a large herd. Sure there’s the off chance that by pure dumb luck you might encounter a lonesome
elk and every year someone gets lucky and fills their tag that way. But your best probability of success will be in the vicinity of the large herds. You scouting goal is
to discover where that 25% hotbed is located. When you find that area it’s hard
to miss. It will stink with
elk musk and urine, there will be heavily used game trails in every direction, the grass will be cropped short, there will be lots fresh
elk droppings and you can hear
elk scurrying away just beyond in the trees.
You have
to be mobile and flexible. If you can't find
elk where you are
hunting, then move
to another location.
#6: USE
HUNTING PRESSURE
TO YOUR ADVANTAGE: I hunt an area on opening morning where there is good vehicle access and lots of other hunters. I hunt in the places where I think the animals will run
to avoid the opening day hunters. Most hunters will stay within a mile or so of a road. A few others will horse pack in six or eight miles or more. So it's good
to get back in 3 or 4 miles before the sun comes up and hunt the in-between areas.
By mid-October, the rut will be over and
elk will be responding
to hunting pressure more than anything else. They hide in sanctuaries, usually very remote wilderness or on private property. Learn where the sanctuaries are located and which routes they will use when they begin
to filter out of the sanctuaries and back onto huntable land. Then setup an ambush on the exit routes. I have a friend whose strategy is
to go in half a mile further than anyone else. He’s very successful at bringing home meat and antlers so there must be something
to it.
#7: HUNT THE RIGHT ELEVATION FOR THE MIGRATION:
Elk accomplish an annual migration, spending the summer at higher elevation and spending the winter in some sheltered place, usually at lower elevation. In mid-summer I can hike into several high basins that will always hold
elk casually lounging in the tundra. But by Colorado's 1st and 2nd rifle season, most
elk will have moved into subalpine and montaine regions. They can travel a long way for water. Look for them
to start moving down their migration routes during the 3rd and 4th seasons.
Elk will wait as long as they can before being forced
to migrate by bad weather. They will go back up if it warms. So if weather in the 3rd season is warm and dry, then look for them up high. Mule deer will migrate sooner and faster than
elk. One day of really bad weather and deep snow, will result in lots of deer in the sage where the day before there wasn't an animal
to be found. Deer usually stay down once they have migrated. In the late seasons
elk can often be found in rancher’s pastures.
When the weather is warm, there will always be a few
elk spread out throughout their entire range. So the population density (
elk/square mile) is less dense and your chance of bumping into an
elk is low. I hunt Colorado’s 3rd rifle season (early November) and hope for heavy snow and bad weather
to drive them out of the high country. They will concentrate in the foothills, at the bottom of the snow line. Since they are concentrated, the population density is higher and your chance of seeing an
elk is improved.
I'll say it again. You have
to be mobile and flexible. If you can't find
elk where you are
hunting, then move
to another location.
#8: HUNT BEDDING AREAS AT DAWN:
Elk like
to bed down in isolated, gently sloping groves of mixed aspen/evergreens with lots of grass and forbs for food. They can travel a long way for water. Isolated means someplace where it’s difficult for people
to access. Find several places like this when you go scouting. Hike in the dark
to arrive at an overlook before the sun comes up and wait
to see what comes out of the grove.
I shot this bull at dawn, in 1997. This small 6x6 bull is about as big as we can expect
to see in the area where I hunt.
#9: HUNT THE RIDGES AT MID-DAY: Setup overlooking a saddle on a ridge where game trails are concentrated and wait
to see what walks by. This takes lots of patience and works best if you have somebody still
hunting through the dark timber
to get the animals moving.
#10: HUNT THE WATERHOLES IN THE AFTERNOON: Find some isolated water source, maybe the highest place where a creek first starts coming out of the ground. Setup concealed from view, with a good field of fire a couple hundred yards away, at least 3 hours before sunset, and wait
to see what comes
to drink. This works best in dry locations like Utah’s LaSalle Mountains or Arizona’s Mogollon Rim but I have also had good luck watching springs on warm Colorado afternoons. Wait until the very last shooting light is gone before going back
to camp. I have field dressed a lot of animals in the dark using a flashlight.
#11: HUNT THE HIDEOUTS LATE IN THE SEASON:
Elk know that someone is trying
to kill them as soon as the first shot is fired. So they run and hide in the most inaccessible terrain around. Find some cozy little pocket surrounded by the meanest, nastiest country around; a place where it looks like there's no way that an
elk could get in there; a place where you would hate
to get an animal down because you would hate
to have
to haul him out. That's where the
elk will be and that's where you should be (and where I will be) late in the season.
I like
to hunt the dark timber. I walk quietly and slowly looking for something that's out of place. I spend more time standing, listening and watching than walking. It’s easier
to walk quietly if you walk on a game trail and that also improves your chances of bumping into game. Every time you come over a small rise, or around a corner, or
to the edge of a glade, do it slowly and quietly and be ready with your rifle because an
elk might be standing just around the corner. Get a cheap cow
elk call and carry it on a string around your neck. Also get a recording of what the call should sound like and practice. When you see and animal, let out a squeak and that animal may think that you are another
elk. I have called in bulls with just a couple of squeaks. It may be more productive
to sit and wait for the animals but you will live more in one day of stalking through the dark timber than in a week of sitting and waiting. When
hunting in thick cover look for horizontal lines. Most everything except game animals grows straight up.
Sometimes it's very difficult
to be quiet. Walking on dry aspen leaves is like walking on potato chips and walking on hard crusty snow is also noisy. In those situations you can't be quiet, so walk quickly
to get
to a spot that you already know from your scouting will be good, find a comfortable position then sit there and don't move. It will take only fifteen or twenty minutes for things
to be like you never walked there.
#12: BE PERSISTANT: You can't catch fish unless you have your bait in the water and you can't find an
elk unless you are in the field looking for them. They're not going
to walk up and surrender themselves
to you. You have
to find them. That's why they call it
hunting and not killing. Many hunters give up after a couple of unsuccessful days and go home. Be prepared
to stay the entire length of the season and
to endure whatever fatigue and weather, you may encounter. Hunt an area for several days and if you don't find anything promising, then try a different strategy or different area, but don't give up.
#13: BE PATIENT: Human beings are noisy, stinky creatures. Our dominant sense is our vision. The
elk's best senses are their smell and hearing. Their vision is motion sensitive and they can't see colors. Many young hunters spend lots of time hiking and covering a lot of ground and wonder why they never see any animals. You should spend most of your time sitting quietly and watching. You should hike slowly and quietly and most of your hiking should be in the dark.
FAQ
RIFLE CALIBER: I hunt
elk with a 30-06 and 180 grain Nosler Partitions with Spitzer points, hand-loaded
to perform like a .300 magnum (61 grains RL22 – 2,870 fps). It might seem simpler
to just use a .300 magnum but I already have the '06 and the hand-load has a trajectory that is close enough
to factory loads Federal Premium 30-06, 150 grain Sierra Game King BTSP that I can switch loads without adjusting my scope.
I think the middle calibers, anything from as small as .270
to as big as .338 magnum, are best suited for
hunting elk. I recommend a minimum of 150 grain premium controlled expansion bullets. A 30-30 will kill an
elk but its’ range is limited
to about 200 yards. It’s my opinion that anything bigger than a .338mag is more gun than necessary and I don’t enjoy the recoil of those big calibers. A well placed shot from just about any legal caliber will kill an
elk but nothing will work right with bad bullet placement, so one needs
to use a caliber with which they are comfortable and proficient and take the time
to get it right the first time.
On the other hand, I know a twenty-something, hundred and thirty pound, young lady who has killed six
elk with a 25-06 and 115 grain Nosler Partitions. So much for my middle caliber theory.
We’ve always been able
to get very accurate rifles if we were willing
to pay the price. But for many of us those custom rifles and high-end production firearms were out of our budget range. However, modern computerized manufacturing methods have enabled manufacturers
to make extremely accurate firearms at an affordable price. So now any
new rifle that I buy is one that is guaranteed by the manufacturer
to shoot MOA out of the box. The Weatherby "Vanguard Series 2" and the Thompson Center Arms "Venture" are rifles that are guaranteed by the manufacturer
to shoot MOA out of the box and both can be found on the retail market for about $500. They're not pretty but they are accurate, reliable and durable enough
to last a lifetime with proper maintenance.
Don't forget that your optics are as important as the rifle and caliber. It’s my opinion that the Leupold VX-3 is probably the best value scope on the market. You can spend a lot more on a scope but you can't get a better scope at any price. You can spend less but you will get less.
CLOTHING: You don’t need the most expensive, uber-cool camo clothing
to hunt
elk. In fact in Colorado you have
to wear 500 sq. in. of orange (hat & vest minimum). You do need full body covering appropriate for the weather; long trousers, long sleeve shirt, ball cap, light gloves, warm sox and hiking boots with good ankle support and lug soles. In the late seasons I also wear long underwear, an insulated vest, and gaiters. I use a good waterproof-breathable parka (one that actually works the way it’s supposed
to) so I can hike back
to camp in the rain without getting thoroughly soaked from the inside out. Most of my clothing is wool or wool/synthetic or nylon/Gortex blends. Try
to avoid cotton when the weather is cold and wet.
BINOCULARS: I do very little spot and stalk
hunting for
elk. It’s mostly at distances less than 300 yards. When
hunting in the dark timber it’s usually much closer than that and I try
to look through intermediate foliage by adjusting the focus and looking for and ear or a butt or leg. This doesn’t require great glass and a pair of 8x35 is OK in that situation and just about any manufacturer will do. I own a pair of old Bushnell 8x35 binos that I like because they are not very heavy. I carry them with a chest harness
to make sure that they are available
to use when I need them. When I spot-and-stalk hunt for Coues deer I use a pair of Oculus 15x56 binoculars with a tripod.
WILDERNESS NAVIGATION: You need
to be able
to hike three or four miles into the wilderness and get back
to camp in the dark, in the fog or in a raging blizzard. Learn how
to read the terrain on a USGS map and know how
to use a compass. Finding your way back
to camp in the dark can be tricky if you have followed your nose looking for game. I augment my map and compass with a GPS. I set my truck or camp as a way-point in the GPS and never have
to worry about finding my way back. A GPS unit is not a substitute for a map and compass.
BE PREPARED FOR WILDERNESS SURVIVAL: I have spent a few unplanned nights out in the woods either because I wasn't comfortable trying
to get back
to camp or because I had found a good spot and I wanted
to be there when the sun came up the next morning.
I always carry a fire starter kit that includes matches, butane lighter, candles or fire sticks, and a few pages from an old phone book. You need
to know how
to get a campfire started using a similar kit and native materials. I also carry a Gortex/Nylon parka, lightweight puffer jacket, a warm knitted hat, a pair of ski gloves and an extra pair of sox. I carry half of a foam pad so I can sit down in the snow without getting my butt wet and I carry a lightweight tarp. Make a bivouac bag by folding the tarp over like a taco, put the foam pad inside the tarp and tie the tarp together so that it doesn’t flop open in the wind. Put on your all your extra clothes, take off your boots and put on your extra sox then put your feet inside your daypack. You may not be comfortable, but you probably won’t get frostbite or hypothermia.
PREDATORS: Very few people get the privilege of seeing a predator. There's a 99% chance that you won't see a bear and if you do it will be running away. Cats are even more secretive. The best place
to see a predator is in your back yard where they may be raiding trash cans or stealing dog food. The only situation where a bear might bother you is if you leave stinky food out for the bears
to smell. Then they might trash your camp trying
to find that food. This is especially true in places like US Forest Service campgrounds where ignorant tourists keep untidy camps and thus habituate the bears
to the idea that they can find food there. If you are lucky enough
to see a predator don't worry because you should be carrying a
hunting rifle. Anything more than that is extra weight and bulk that you don't need
to bother with. I have been on more wilderness backpack trips than I can count since 1958, probably over 300, and the predators that I have seen I can count on one hand and I have never been threatened. One time a young hunter wrote me and mentioned that a couple of guys had said that they had been stalked by cougars in the area where he intended
to hunt and he asked me what I would do in that situation. I responded that I would buy a cougar license.
CAMPING: There’s a problem with sleeping in a motel or lodge because it’s not located in prime
elk habitat and you have
to spend time in the morning and evening traveling between where you are staying and where you are
hunting. So you either have
to spend less time
hunting or less time sleeping. You need
to camp so you can sleep near where you hunt. Lots of people use campers and/or trailers for car camping. You can make it as complicated as you want, but all you really need for car camping is a tent, sleeping bag, mattress pad, camp stove & cook kit, and a few packs of freeze-dried food. It’s really not any more complicated than that. I’ve spent several nights sleeping in the back of an SUV or pickup with a topper. Every year for a couple of decades I setup a big base camp using tents. These days I may setup a base camp at the trailhead but I do most of my
hunting out of backpack camps. The cheaper your gear is, the tougher you have
to be. If you are going
to use tents, be sure
to protect them from the wind. Try
to “hunt uphill”. That means set your camp low and hike uphill
to do your
hunting. Therefore, when you kill an
elk you can drag it downhill instead of hauling it uphill. Don’t try
to learn
to camp on your first
elk hunt. That’s a recipe for disaster. A guided hunt is not the way
to learn
to camp because they do everything and since you do nothing, you don’t learn anything. Start camping near your home (maybe even your back yard), then take what you’ve learned into the hills.
WEATHER: The weather is entirely unpredictable in the Rockies. On a recent two-night backpack trip onto Pikes Peak, it snowed once, rained twice, and was mild for the rest of the time, and that was in September. In October and November you need
to be prepared for two feet of snow or high temps in the 60s. You can have both situations on the same hunt and I’m not exaggerating.
PACKING OUT YOUR KILL: If you go into the hunt with the mindset that getting it out is gonna' suck, you'll never be disappointed. Before you go
elk hunting you need
to think about and prepare yourself
to pack out an
elk on your back. Don’t expect the
elk to drop dead at a convenient location and don’t kill an
elk and then think “What do I do now?” You need
to be able
to dress out a 700# animal in the field, skin it and if you have
to carry it very far, de-bone it, then get it back
to your vehicle. When I’m
hunting, I’m using an ultra-light backpack with a capacity of about 4,000 cu.in., which is mostly empty. When I kill an
elk, I carry out the first load of loose meat in that pack and then I switch
to a bigger pack (about 6,400 cu.in.) capable of carrying 100#. I carry out the big quarters in that pack. Then I switch back
to the smaller pack
to go back in and get my camp.
Anyway, that’s how I use
to do it when I was young and strong. Now that I’m getting older, I rent a horse
to pack out an
elk.
MEAT CARE: If it's warm, you will have
to be concerned with preventing your meat from spoiling. Skin and quarter the animal immediately, bag it and hang it in the shade. Cover it with a tarp
to keep the birds away but make sure that there’s still good air circulation. Do not put it in plastic bags. That’s a sure recipe for spoiled meat. I have seen people place their meat in a side braid of the river or a creek so that the cold water kept the meat cool. I’ve also used Game Saver citric acid spray. You mix the powder with water in a spray bottle and it works great. I ordered it over the Internet from Indian Valley Meat Co., in Indian Valley, AK.
http://www.indianvalleymeats.com/about.htm VEHICLES IN THE MOUNTAINS: You need a 4x4 vehicle. Just about any stock 4x4 pickup will do and most stock 4x4 SUVs will also work. You need some ground clearance and aggressive tires, but you don’t need a lift kit. We can get deep snow and sloppy slippery roads during any of the rifle season. So you need
to carry tire chains for all four wheels and KNOW HOW
TO USE THEM. Remember that you have
to stay on established roads, usually US Forest Service roads or BLM roads, and that in a designated wilderness area nothing with a wheel or motor is allowed. A lot of people will drive
to the end of a dirt road at or near a wilderness area boundary, camp there, and hike in from there.
PICKING A
HUNTING AREA: Picking an area
to hunt is the easiest and the most difficult part of
hunting. There are literally millions of acres of public land located in National Forests and on BLM land. So it’s easy
to find a place where it's legal
to hunt. But finding "the right place"
to hunt is more difficult.
Most Western hunters are not going
to tell you where their honey holes are located. 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 P&W big game web page for the recap of preference points required
to get a license in limited draw units.
http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspxThere 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.
Then, go
to the interactive game management unit maps.
http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/huntingatlas/index.aspx?keyword=gmu&value=54 . There you can find winter ranges, calving areas and summer ranges in each GMU. Finally get a copy of the USGS map(s) for the area and memorize it. 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 located, 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.
If you want
to put in for the computer draw, here's a link that gives draw expectations.
http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspxI’m not familiar with the resources available in other western states, but I would wager that there’s similar info available in all of them.
THE DRAWING SYSTEM IN COLORADO: Learning how the drawing process works is an important part of learning how
to hunt
elk in Colorado. The state is divided into game management units (GMU). Each year the game managers determine a quota for each species in each GMU and from that determine how many licenses of each species they will issue in order
to manage each population. It's a very complicated system. Here's a simplified (maybe over-simplified) summary.
Over-the-counter bull
elk tags can be purchased at sporting goods stores, some department stores, gun shops, Parks & Wildlife offices, etc. The number of those licenses is unlimited and they are valid in about half of the GMUs west of I-25. Low probability of success on OTC bull tags but each year a few tags are filled that way. Sometimes it just takes luck.
Cow
elk tags are issued only through the draw (there are some exceptions but let's keep it simple for this introductory narrative). There are many GMUs where there are more cow tags offered than there are applicants. The extra tags are called leftover tags and they are offered first-come first-serve at Parks & Wildlife offices in early August. You have a much better chance of bagging a cow
elk than you do of tagging out on a bull. A lot of people will hunt for cow
elk in a unit where they eventually hope
to hunt for bulls and in the process they learn the unit and are ready for the day that they get a bull tag. It probably makes most sense for a nonresident
to apply for an either-sex tag.
If you apply for the draw and if you don't get what you applied for you get a preference point. You can also apply for a preference point. Each time that you are unsuccessful you get another point. People with the most points are awarded licenses before people with fewer points.
There are several GMUs where the OTC bull tags are not valid and bull tags are issued through the draw. You can draw a bull tag in some of those units with only a few preference points and some have pretty good success for representative bulls. These units are where a lot of
elk hunters get their bulls.
There are a hand full of premium units that are managed
to produce trophy bulls and there are only a few tags issued each year. Success rates are very high and quality is very high. In those units it now takes a couple of decades worth of points
to draw a license and the number of points required increases slowly. It will eventually get
to the point where it takes so many points that those units will be de-facto once-in-a-lifetime units.
You can apply for up
to four choices on the application. Each year I apply for a preference point as my first choice. Second and subsequent choices do not use up your points. My second choice is a cow tag in a unit that has historically had leftover cow tags so I'm pretty sure I'll get that tag and it's also in a unit where OTC bull tags are valid. So each year I get another preference point and I go into the field with a cow tag and a bull tag. I shoot the first cow that I see and spend the rest of the season looking for a bull. I now have 20 preference points for
elk. I've shot 32
elk since 1978, although only eight of them have been bulls and they are all big five point (5x5) or small six point (6x6) bulls.
Pronghorn and deer tags are issued only through the draw and the system is similar
to that for
elk.
Colorado issues very few licenses for moose, rocky mountain bighorn sheep, mountain goats and desert bighorns. You have
to apply for three years just
to get into the draw and start collecting points. One should consider any license for any of those species as a once-in-a-lifetime tag although if you were
to start applying for and gathering points when young it's conceivable that you could hunt those species two or three times in a lifetime.
Internet is the easiest way
to apply. Here's the home page for CO Parks & Wildlife.
http://cpw.state.co.us/There are so many options that there is no easy answer for just how and what you should apply for. There is a lot of info on the CO P&W web site and you need
to spend mucho, mucho hours studying all that's available. Concentrate on big game statistics.
http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspxWhen you're ready
to apply, start here.
http://cpw.state.co.us/BuyApply/pages/hunting.aspxIn Colorado there is no separate big game
hunting license. Your
elk tag is your
hunting license. They will send your license/tag in the mail.
You must have completed a hunter education course if you were born after January 1, 1949. You also need
to buy a $10 habitat stamp. If you don't draw any tag, everything but a small application fee is refunded.
HIND SIGHT: I started writing this article a long time ago. I have updated it over the years, and things have changed since I started writing. Now I don’t care too much about killing an
elk myself, but I try hard
to help my
hunting companions connect. I’ve learned
to appreciate the sunrises more and more.
The biggest obstacle
to overcome is thinking that you can't do it on your own...trust me, you can. Just get out there and do it. I hope this helps. Good luck. Have a safe and enjoyable hunt.
KC