Does anyone have experience hunting Unit 551 in CO? Friend wants me to go out and hunt with them 3rd season. They drew tags in adjoining unit, so i will be on my own. There are 3 units with OTC tags adjoining the unit they are hunting, but 551 is close and decent hunting success
Colorado Unit 551
- Thread starter edpg1963
- Start date
elkduds
Well-known member
Welcome.
JohnCushman
Well-known member
welcome
Sounds like your friends are hunting 56 and 561? The boundary between 551 and 56/561 is one of the most vertical rugged boundaries in the state. Just mentioning that because though you may be hunting just one unit over, you probably won't have contact with your friends, at least not in the form of cell phones or two way radios and it would require some real driving and leg work should you need help from members of your party or vice versa. Sharing camp at the end of each day will certainly be nice if you can all find a central location that makes sense distance wise. Also, 3rd season weather can be full on winter at the top of Monarch Pass, which is basically right where the units come together. Be very prepared, and have a good lower elevation back up plan is my advice.
Where would you start to look for elk and preferably away from others. I not afraid of getting off the beaten path if it means good hunting. I was thinking about a scouting trip off of 114 near dome peak.
Cochetopa Dome
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
That's in unit 67, go to the co hunt atlas and turn on the summer elk concentration layer.
WyoDoug
Well-known member
Yeah, but I only hunted that area a couple times. The elk move to difficult terrain once hunting season starts. Be prepared to be hiking canyons and the thick dark timber. If the temperature is warm head up high and hunt the higher elevations. It's a difficult area to hunt but chance of success is great if you work at it and watch the wind.
☝ Applies to just about every OTC area. It would help if you told us what unit your friends are hunting. I was assuming you wanted to find an area that would be close to where they were hunting so y'all could share the same camp.
WyoDoug
Well-known member
I don't cuss often, but last time I hunted this area, I was cussing big time because I shot a cow elk in a draw between two fingers and no damn road for a good 3 1/2 miles. And to top that off, I had to hike back to the top of the ridge to get to the mesa where I was parked. Took me 3 trips to get that cow elk out, but once I got it all in my pickup, I headed to camp and I rested the rest of the hunting trip while my buddies worked on theirs. I think I said ever dang cuss word there was heading back uphill to my truck.
Edit: PS, I was in much better shape than I am now LOL. I was approaching 40 then and 65 now. I used an old military alice pack. Didn't invest in high end hunting toys back then. I just used my military gear. And being still in the service then, I knew the supply sergeant enough to talk him into issuing some nice binos to use.
Edit: PS, I was in much better shape than I am now LOL. I was approaching 40 then and 65 now. I used an old military alice pack. Didn't invest in high end hunting toys back then. I just used my military gear. And being still in the service then, I knew the supply sergeant enough to talk him into issuing some nice binos to use.
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mariano742
Active member
Anybody see any deer in 551? I’ll be glad to trade a deer spot for any elk i see during my scouting the week before 3rd rifle and any elk i see during season if anyone checks back here
WyoDoug
Well-known member
You should have no problem finding deer in 551 depending on what you are after. I am a meat hunter and I used to hunt the Gunnison, Rifle, Craig, Kremmling and Meeker areas for years until I moved to Wyoming.
mariano742
Active member
Id love to hear your thoughts about areas around meeker. I got into elk in unit 24 in first rifle but came away with tag soup. I live in maine but ill be heading out west eventually for good. This 551 deer tag is without a doubt the best deer tag I’ve ever had so i am hopefully going to get a good idea of what’s in there for bucks in the three days right before third season that I have to scout
Wallydeuce
Well-known member
Welcome from Nevada
WyoDoug
Well-known member
Meeker area when I hunted there was lotsa orange hats (heavy pressure) but lot of deer. There was elk but you needed to plan hunts for 10-14 days and do your scouting in advance because they tended to move onto private when that first rifle shot was fired. Some of the landowners would give permission and some would not. However, there are elk around Meeker and Rifle for sure. I got my very first elk in my lifetime in GMU 22 before they fenced it in which is close to that area. This be the elk my dad told me I was wasting money buying a ticket on LOL because he didn't believe me when I told him I was seeing elk when we were deer hunting.
