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Colorado unit 61 Early rifle

Elkhunter0626

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Joined
Jun 5, 2023
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My father in law finally decided to cash in on his elk points. He has been trying for 201 for 23 years but keeps getting burned by point creep. He wanted to use his points on a good quality hunt before he got too old to do so. He was lucky enough to draw unit 61 early rifle season this year. I have been doing a lot of research and e-scouting on the unit in anticipation of him drawing and now plan to start making trips next month to get a good lay of the land and start doing some scouting. I want to do all I can to help him out as he deserves to have a great hunt and I want to make the most of it for him. Was hoping anyone can help me out with good places to start scouting with boots on the ground or even some good places to camp out there. I know people are weary of sharing secrets but hoping since this is a 20 point tag people will be more willing to help me out but I obviously understand that’s a touchy subject sometimes. I appreciate any tips or tricks I can get.
 
 
That must be stored in your cookies that I block ;)
 
mdidnt
Didn’t realize I posted it the first time to a deer forum so I moved it to the elk one. Rookie mistake
 
@Elkhunter0626 Where you been hanging out for online hunt forums? See you just hopped on here today?

You will have no trouble finding elk in 61. Will the tag holder be pounding some ground scouting too, or is it just you?
 
@Elkhunter0626 Where you been hanging out for online hunt forums? See you just hopped on here today?

You will have no trouble finding elk in 61. Will the tag holder be pounding some ground scouting too, or is it just you?
Yep I am new here. I’ve been on campfire for just over a year now though.

And yes my father in law will definitely be going with me to get a lay of the land and figure out what all he will feel comfortable doing. He is in great shape for his age but still has some limitations so want to make sure we know what those are prior to the hunt.
 
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24hourdumpsterfire LOL you picked a poor choice for your first hunting forum to join from what I have seen over there.

Here is my offered tips or tricks as requested….Line up Dominguez Canyon outfitters in advance for potential pack out service. It is one thing to shoot a big bull 3 miles down from the top and another hoofing it out. Might extend y’alls range and make the whole thing more “fun”.
Here is another solid gold tip... Search hunt forums for “early rifle unit 61” and variations and then direct message the guys who speak of experience in the unit instead of posting a “help me” thread as a newbie with zero new content creation history. You will get a lot more help from a perfectly targeted audience and avoid the pricks who will simply chime in to harrass you instead of scrolling by. Nothing wrong with asking as you have, but the odds of the right folks ever reading your post, and giving tangible help, are close to zero and for sure you will miss MOST of the guys who know what you seek.

You may find, if you actually hang around here as a real community member in earnest, post some stories and insights of your own, instead of parachuting in with a hot tag and dissappearing as many new guys asking for help on a tag do, this is a great place to communicate and connect on hunting topics and other things. So why not start now sharing content based on your prior hunts. Or, if as I bet may be the case on 24campfire, your posts here will be are few and centered on looking for intel for this or other tags, this can be a barren wasteland. YMMV. Ask yourself this. Am I going to hang here and post nice scouting and hunt photos and stories or am I here for help if offered and then disappear. And be honest with yourself and the community about intent. More often than not, guys say “I will definitely post up the hunt afterward” never to be seen again. Maybe they mean it when they say it but ultimately it was total BS. And as a guy with almost zero hunt forum participation history anywhere is would be reasonably predicted you are in that group but time will tell.

Regardless, you are in for a fun time in 61, amazing country stuffed with elk from top to bottom. You will not need help finding lots of elk. I have only hunted the first rifle on a reissue tag for zero pref points and yes I was happy to get a 3 mile lift up up and up from Dominguez Canyon outfitters out of the hole I found my bull in.

8D0C5099-7AB5-443C-995E-C557902A03C3.jpeg
 
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Wow what a sweet bull! That’s incredible to pick that up on the reissue list.I have been hoping to snag a quality tag off that list every year but it gets harder and harder. I’m glad guys are making the most of them when they get them!

Thanks for the tip I will definitely look them up. We plan on having 4-5 guys with us to help pack but you know how that goes once it comes time to actually go. And yep, I can appreciate the hesitation to help new members and experienced that on campfire as well but I try to pay it back on other posts that I think I can offer insight too. Looking forward to getting some credit on this forum haha. Maybe adding a profile pic first will help
 
24hourdumpsterfire LOL you picked a poor choice for your first hunting forum to join from what I have seen over there.

Here is my offered tips or tricks as requested….Line up Dominguez Canyon outfitters in advance for potential pack out service. It is one thing to shoot a big bull 3 miles down from the top and another hoofing it out. Might extend y’alls range and make the whole thing more “fun”.
Here is another solid gold tip... Search hunt forums for “early rifle unit 61” and variations and then direct message the guys who speak of experience in the unit instead of posting a “help me” thread as a newbie with zero new content creation history. You will get a lot more help from a perfectly targeted audience and avoid the pricks who will simply chime in to harrass you instead of scrolling by. Nothing wrong with asking as you have, but the odds of the right folks ever reading your post, and giving tangible help, are close to zero and for sure you will miss MOST of the guys who know what you seek.

You may find, if you actually hang around here as a real community member in earnest, post some stories and insights of your own, instead of parachuting in with a hot tag and dissappearing as many new guys asking for help on a tag do, this is a great place to communicate and connect on hunting topics and other things. So why not start now sharing content based on your prior hunts. Or, if as I bet may be the case on 24campfire, your posts here will be are few and centered on looking for intel for this or other tags, this can be a barren wasteland. YMMV. Ask yourself this. Am I going to hang here and post nice scouting and hunt photos and stories or am I here for help if offered and then disappear. And be honest with yourself and the community about intent. More often than not, guys say “I will definitely post up the hunt afterward” never to be seen again. Maybe they mean it when they say it but ultimately it was total BS. And as a guy with almost zero hunt forum participation history anywhere is would be reasonably predicted you are in that group but time will tell.

Regardless, you are in for a fun time in 61, amazing country stuffed with elk from top to bottom. You will not need help finding lots of elk. I have only hunted the first rifle on a reissue tag for zero pref points and yes I was happy to get a 3 mile lift up up and up from Dominguez Canyon outfitters out of the hole I found my bull in.

View attachment 278901
...cordial assist, way to go Khunter.
 
My father in law finally decided to cash in on his elk points. He has been trying for 201 for 23 years but keeps getting burned by point creep. He wanted to use his points on a good quality hunt before he got too old to do so. He was lucky enough to draw unit 61 early rifle season this year. I have been doing a lot of research and e-scouting on the unit in anticipation of him drawing and now plan to start making trips next month to get a good lay of the land and start doing some scouting. I want to do all I can to help him out as he deserves to have a great hunt and I want to make the most of it for him. Was hoping anyone can help me out with good places to start scouting with boots on the ground or even some good places to camp out there. I know people are weary of sharing secrets but hoping since this is a 20 point tag people will be more willing to help me out but I obviously understand that’s a touchy subject sometimes. I appreciate any tips or tricks I can get.
Welcome to HT. PM me if you like.
 
Been 15 years since I did it, but my experience was in line with what others are saying. We hunted mostly UC Creek drainage where its extremely steep and rugged. Saw lots of good bulls, but most were at great distance in areas impossible to get to. Challenge was finding a decent bull somewhere where we could shoot it and retrieve it.
 
Following.

I may be following in your FIL's footsteps. I'm getting very tired of the continuous point creep in the NW corner. :(

Khunter's post is spot on and genuine.

I wish you good luck.
 
Just quoting these absolute unicorn of a comment about KHunter so can be framed and hung on a wall. LOL. As rare as the size bull @Dinkshooter spotted for me that morning.haha.
Just calling it like I see it. There seems to be a never-ending supply of posts from 'Negative Nancy Keyboard Warriors' on these sites. Your post was "refreshing" to me. Thank you.
 

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