Irishwin
New member
Hi everyone,
This is my first post to Hunt Talk, so it will most likely be a bit of a long one.
PSA:
I don’t expect people to give me their honeyholes, and in-fact, I have already picked out the location I plan to hunt elk. I'm pretty bull headed and unless someone thinks that my plan is completely flawed I will probably end up hunting the area I have done the research on. I am going to walk though my whole thought process, planning, and gear list to help other new people. Hopefully this: process, planning, and gear list is where the more experienced guys will be able to help.
Background:
25 years old, first elk hunt is being planned for Colorado 2nd rifle season (OTC) in 2019. Hunting partner 24, also has never hunted Elk. I am, as Randy would put it, an adult on-set hunter. I have done a few whitetail hunts in Missouri as well as Turkey in the past couple of years. I have watched most of Randy's and Meat Eater's YouTube videos and have listened to the majority of Randy's podcasts. I make decent money, but by no means can afford to only buy top of the line equipment. I would rather learn with passable equipment and hunt most if not every year, then only be able to hunt 1 in 5 years because I am spending so much on equipment. Neither of us are "trophy" hunters and would be more than willing to harvest just about any legal animal. I envision myself, more like Marcus, that doesn’t pass on legal bulls.
Trip Planning Part 1:
Being the first western hunt of both of us, we felt that we would like to be able to have a little bit better chance at success. So, we have decided that he will get a Wyoming antelope tag (more on that later) and I will get an OTC Colorado rifle elk tag. Due to the different seasons, and goal of completing this in 1 trip west, we are stuck doing a 2nd rifle hunt. We plan to leave from Omaha on evening of (Friday) October 18th. This should allow us to get to Wyoming by early morning on the 19th. Plan for him to antelope hunt 19-21st. Then move camp down into northern Colorado late on the 21st . (Ideally the major rush from the 1st OTC rifle weekend will be over) Then spend 22nd-26th elk hunting. Return on the 27th. Trying to pack all of this in the span of about 10 days is going to be hectic I know. So, to minimize travel time we would like to find an antelope tag in the south central/east part of Wyoming, then Elk in the north central part of Colorado.
Elk Planning:
As for the Colorado plan, I wanted to find a location with decently high elk success ratios based on a few websites that I found with a quick Google Search. Then while looking at the success rates I picked the units that were geographically close to each other. I knew that I wanted to minimize drive time from the Wyoming antelope, so I limited it then to the northern part of the state. After researching each of the specific units further on Colorado’s website and others I narrowed it further to a few of the units in/near Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. That’s when the real fun started, where in the thousands of acers are elk going to be? I found a coupon for the OnX App product on sale, so I purchased the 1 year version way before my hunt was even going to take place. I focused on roadless areas, historic burns, and obviously public ground (BLM and National Forest Service). State land in Colorado is not public land. That narrowed it even further and when using the OnX system, I now was able to overlay the maps and really narrow it down. For new hunters, I think that it is vital to do this. You do not realize how much of the land gets marked off the list, by just overlaying a few maps.
Once I had it narrowed down to about 2% of the land I was interested in, I started picking ridges/mountains to glass from, and water holes that would draw in game. After multiple glassing spots were picked out I started looking into trails to get to them and were I would be within hiking distance of the most glassing spots. I was able to narrow it down to my general location that I planned to be for the duration of the hunt. (It is around an 8 mile on each side square). Next I looked into how I was going to get there. I was able to find a campground just on the edge of where I wanted to hunt. I felt the perfect place to set up base camp. Then I looked for locations to set up a spike camp. From what I have read and listened to, most people say that new hunters should try to stay very mobile. While I am sure they are right, I don’t want to spend the whole hunt in the truck driving around and going on 100 yard hikes. I have planned out the first few days to be way back in the sticks, and then the end of the hunt to try and hit up the glassing spots that are closer to access points. A couple concerns with the elk hunt are:
1) What is too high in elevation for a mid-late October hunt? I know that it varies, but some of the areas I am looking at are approaching 12,000’?
2) If I do kill an elk, am I able to transport the head across state lines?
3) What are the specific requirements for leaving proof of sex?
4) There are no special requirements for Wilderness zones in Colorado are there?
5) With an OTC tag I can hunt multiple units and do not have to stay in 1 unit like a limited draw tag, right? [/B]
Between drafting and posting this I saw a form about Colorado OTC vs Wyoming General. I planned to do Colorado OTC, but I do have a point (1) as of 2018 in Wyoming. Based on the Wyoming website I, think, most of the south-central units are almost a 100% if you have 2 points. I would have 2 points when I enter the draw in 2019, right? Of course there are pro and cons to both, but the main pros would be fewer hunters in Wyoming and the ability to take any elk vs Colorado only being a 4 point Bull. Again this is for a rifle hunt. Thoughts?
Antelope Planning:
To add a little bit of a higher chance at success while out west, my hunting partner is going to try and get an antelope tag in South Central Wyoming. He has 1 preference point as of 2018. I really have not planned much of this part as I am leaving it up to him. What are the chances of being able to gain a tag with this amount of points? With corner crossing being taken more seriously in Wyoming, what tactics should be used in areas of checkerboard private vs public?
He bought an (1) antelope point in 2018. So what are the realistic chances about being able to draw a unit with enough public land? Yes, we will have onX Maps, but corner crossing is taken a bit more serious in Wyoming, correct?
Attached is the Gear list that I have put together as well.
Thanks all for the help, and I apologize for the long post.
This is my first post to Hunt Talk, so it will most likely be a bit of a long one.
PSA:
I don’t expect people to give me their honeyholes, and in-fact, I have already picked out the location I plan to hunt elk. I'm pretty bull headed and unless someone thinks that my plan is completely flawed I will probably end up hunting the area I have done the research on. I am going to walk though my whole thought process, planning, and gear list to help other new people. Hopefully this: process, planning, and gear list is where the more experienced guys will be able to help.
Background:
25 years old, first elk hunt is being planned for Colorado 2nd rifle season (OTC) in 2019. Hunting partner 24, also has never hunted Elk. I am, as Randy would put it, an adult on-set hunter. I have done a few whitetail hunts in Missouri as well as Turkey in the past couple of years. I have watched most of Randy's and Meat Eater's YouTube videos and have listened to the majority of Randy's podcasts. I make decent money, but by no means can afford to only buy top of the line equipment. I would rather learn with passable equipment and hunt most if not every year, then only be able to hunt 1 in 5 years because I am spending so much on equipment. Neither of us are "trophy" hunters and would be more than willing to harvest just about any legal animal. I envision myself, more like Marcus, that doesn’t pass on legal bulls.
Trip Planning Part 1:
Being the first western hunt of both of us, we felt that we would like to be able to have a little bit better chance at success. So, we have decided that he will get a Wyoming antelope tag (more on that later) and I will get an OTC Colorado rifle elk tag. Due to the different seasons, and goal of completing this in 1 trip west, we are stuck doing a 2nd rifle hunt. We plan to leave from Omaha on evening of (Friday) October 18th. This should allow us to get to Wyoming by early morning on the 19th. Plan for him to antelope hunt 19-21st. Then move camp down into northern Colorado late on the 21st . (Ideally the major rush from the 1st OTC rifle weekend will be over) Then spend 22nd-26th elk hunting. Return on the 27th. Trying to pack all of this in the span of about 10 days is going to be hectic I know. So, to minimize travel time we would like to find an antelope tag in the south central/east part of Wyoming, then Elk in the north central part of Colorado.
Elk Planning:
As for the Colorado plan, I wanted to find a location with decently high elk success ratios based on a few websites that I found with a quick Google Search. Then while looking at the success rates I picked the units that were geographically close to each other. I knew that I wanted to minimize drive time from the Wyoming antelope, so I limited it then to the northern part of the state. After researching each of the specific units further on Colorado’s website and others I narrowed it further to a few of the units in/near Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. That’s when the real fun started, where in the thousands of acers are elk going to be? I found a coupon for the OnX App product on sale, so I purchased the 1 year version way before my hunt was even going to take place. I focused on roadless areas, historic burns, and obviously public ground (BLM and National Forest Service). State land in Colorado is not public land. That narrowed it even further and when using the OnX system, I now was able to overlay the maps and really narrow it down. For new hunters, I think that it is vital to do this. You do not realize how much of the land gets marked off the list, by just overlaying a few maps.
Once I had it narrowed down to about 2% of the land I was interested in, I started picking ridges/mountains to glass from, and water holes that would draw in game. After multiple glassing spots were picked out I started looking into trails to get to them and were I would be within hiking distance of the most glassing spots. I was able to narrow it down to my general location that I planned to be for the duration of the hunt. (It is around an 8 mile on each side square). Next I looked into how I was going to get there. I was able to find a campground just on the edge of where I wanted to hunt. I felt the perfect place to set up base camp. Then I looked for locations to set up a spike camp. From what I have read and listened to, most people say that new hunters should try to stay very mobile. While I am sure they are right, I don’t want to spend the whole hunt in the truck driving around and going on 100 yard hikes. I have planned out the first few days to be way back in the sticks, and then the end of the hunt to try and hit up the glassing spots that are closer to access points. A couple concerns with the elk hunt are:
1) What is too high in elevation for a mid-late October hunt? I know that it varies, but some of the areas I am looking at are approaching 12,000’?
2) If I do kill an elk, am I able to transport the head across state lines?
3) What are the specific requirements for leaving proof of sex?
4) There are no special requirements for Wilderness zones in Colorado are there?
5) With an OTC tag I can hunt multiple units and do not have to stay in 1 unit like a limited draw tag, right? [/B]
Between drafting and posting this I saw a form about Colorado OTC vs Wyoming General. I planned to do Colorado OTC, but I do have a point (1) as of 2018 in Wyoming. Based on the Wyoming website I, think, most of the south-central units are almost a 100% if you have 2 points. I would have 2 points when I enter the draw in 2019, right? Of course there are pro and cons to both, but the main pros would be fewer hunters in Wyoming and the ability to take any elk vs Colorado only being a 4 point Bull. Again this is for a rifle hunt. Thoughts?
Antelope Planning:
To add a little bit of a higher chance at success while out west, my hunting partner is going to try and get an antelope tag in South Central Wyoming. He has 1 preference point as of 2018. I really have not planned much of this part as I am leaving it up to him. What are the chances of being able to gain a tag with this amount of points? With corner crossing being taken more seriously in Wyoming, what tactics should be used in areas of checkerboard private vs public?
He bought an (1) antelope point in 2018. So what are the realistic chances about being able to draw a unit with enough public land? Yes, we will have onX Maps, but corner crossing is taken a bit more serious in Wyoming, correct?
Attached is the Gear list that I have put together as well.
Thanks all for the help, and I apologize for the long post.
. How do you find the odd for the cow tags? I have not been able to find them on Wyomings website. Go Hunt? 
