Colorado GMU 4

[coloradohunter22]

This will be my first year chasing elk and I have decided to focus on GMU 4 for Colorado OTC Bull elk. I can not decide if I should pick second rifle season or third. It seems the harvest statistics are similar for both seasons so I figure it does not matter much but any input would be appreciated. Also I am wondering if I should focus up higher in the national forest or down closer to the BLM? Should I try to spot and stalk or find escape routes and let other hunters push the elk around? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Both 2nd and 3rd are a CF on public land, pick the time frame that best suits you. Personally I would pick 3rd, slightly less crowded, and better chance of snow. Elevation the elk are at will be determined by weather and pressure. I would find escape routes and sit on them.

Do a search on here for unit 4, lots of good info. The elk move SW when they migrate and cross hwy 13, which the last few years hasn't been until after 4th rifle.

Prepare to see an orange army like nothing you've seen before, especially if you camp near Freeman Res.

Good Luck!

 

[JohnCushman]

Welcome to HT

 

[coloradohunter22]

I figured there would be alot of pressure but I am not worried about it, lots of people and lots of elk hopefully. Figured it would be a good spot to start.

 

[ColoradoHunter719]

Welcome to the group Coloradohunter22.

Don’t read too much into the harvested statistics because those numbers are not that precise. Look into the different seasons and which one can make it easier for you to tag an animal. Just in case you were not aware, 1st Rifle Season looks a lot better and most hunters who applied for the 1st Rifle Season got it with ZERO points. Me and 2 other friends we are going there for 1st Rifle Season.

I’m just guessing by the number of posts you have, it seems like you are new to our forum. Within this forum, you have lots of extremely great hunters (not me, I’m just learning). If you want other hunters to share more information with you, show them you have done some homework. Do a forum search around different topics involving Colorado GMU 4, you will find a few posts regarding GMU 4.

2nd Rifle Season is the hardest time to kill a bull elk. Also, lots of hunter during 2nd rifle season. Personally, 3rd rifle season provides better odds due to the snow. Most hunters do not want to deal with snow and the cold/wet weather; therefore, they go into 2nd season. However, snow provides a few advantages for example, glassing elk becomes a little easier cause of their color with the snow as a white background, tracking purposes because you can actually glass elk tracks on the snow which were not there the day prior, and also, snow will make the bulls more mobile.

Here you have a link to a post I created for GMU4 – 1st Rifle Season. Good Luck this season. – ColoradoHunter719

CO GMU 4 Elk 1st Rifle Season
Link:
https://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?282779-CO-GMU-4-Elk-1st-Rifle-Season

 

[coloradohunter22]

I have done plenty of research but since the search function for this forum only looks for keywords and not whole phrases it's difficult to find anything relating to GMU 4. For example when I search Colorado GMU 4 the search functions looks for "colorado, GMU, 4" as seperate words and not a whole phrase.