Colorado Archery

[roravetz]

Building up Karma, even if I posted this in another thread...

New to HT and Colorado Elk, but this community has been great to passively participate in. I figured it's time to give back and encourage others to jump in...Long story short, I gathered data from various sources to rank the opportunity across CO units (both OTC and draw) to help identify where I should focus (does not consider draw probability). Adding in some data science wizardry and imputation, I was then able to get a more complete picture. In the end, I generated rankings for factors like "% of Public Acreage", "% Acres Burned in Last 10 Years", "% of Acres in Summer Elk Range", "% of Acres in Winter Elk Range", "3 Year Avg Success %", "Estimated Bulls Per Acre", "Avg Bull-Hunter Ratio", and others. I can't attach the Excel, which has the full list and details of each ranking, so PM me with your email if you'd like the file. I hope the top 25 below helps any new hunters not already set on a unit.

General note: The 0.5 numbers mean there was a tie in the ranking.
View attachment 150215

The unit I hunted last year didn't make your top 25 and probably for good reason, I barley saw anything haha

 

[jw_smitty]

The unit I hunted last year didn't make your top 25 and probably for good reason, I barley saw anything haha

It's definitely interesting to see the comparisons at a macro-level. If anyone has feedback on new factors to include or exclude and the corresponding data source, I'm always open to new ideas.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

If anyone has feedback on new factors to include or exclude

How about excluding my unit from your post I know if has great elk hunting but I don't need everyone else to know that

 

[jw_smitty]

How about excluding my unit from your post I know if has great elk hunting but I don't need everyone else to know that

Very true! I went back and forth on sharing here, but figured if that analysis gave away the farm and screwed up my chances, then I needed to become a better hunter. It's probably good I didn't post this in a new thread though being a newb. At least now, some people have to dig to find it.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

figured if that analysis gave away the farm and screwed up my chances, then I needed to become a better hunter

Becoming a better hunter won't help any of us draw a tag if more people start applying for our unit, was my point. Your logic works just fine for OTC tags but not for draw units. Posting draw units to hunt definitely don't help those of us that apply in currently low draw units. No major complaints here, I'll always find somewhere to hunt, but good to be aware that the effect is not insignificant.