Ft Carson Elk Hunting Help Needed

[SPDSpappy]

Does anyone w/ a CAC have recent experience hunting elk on Ft Carson? If so, is it worth trying? After reviewing GoHunt, this appears to be my best bet for 3rd elk rifle season in terms of % success. I've found and read some old threads on Hunt Talk about hunting Ft Carson, but I think the issues brought up 5 years ago are not necessarily valid any more b/c of the online system they've put into place (iSportsman). I read in one of the threads they close down hunting during the week in many cases. Is this still true? I plan to be out hunting for the entire 3rd season and I don't want want to waste my 2k mile trip and only get to hunt on the weekends. This is my first time hunting elk (or anything out west) and I want to give myself the best chance.

Thanks!

 

[wannakillabigbull]

They can close down hunting at Fort Carson for any reason at any time. Based on that fact alone I wouldn’t throw all your eggs into that basket. At the very least have a well thought out backup plan for a different unit. Good luck!

 

[BDH]

Military reservations are a gem if you can and are willing to jump through all the red tape that comes with it. Call Fort Carson recs and wildlife office they will get you pointed in the right direction. For the most part land is scheduled at least 60 to 90 days in advance so you should be able to work around any training that may take up areas. Make sure you have a good understanding of the rules that come with hunting on post.

RTW

 

[SPDSpappy]

They can close down hunting at Fort Carson for any reason at any time. Based on that fact alone I wouldn’t throw all your eggs into that basket. At the very least have a well thought out backup plan for a different unit. Good luck!

Unfortunately, GMA 59 had 0% success last year, so if I bought a tag for 59/591, started hunting Ft Carson, and Ft Carson closed to hunting, it looks like I'd be hosed...

 

[SPDSpappy]

Military reservations are a gem if you can and are willing to jump through all the red tape that comes with it. Call Fort Carson recs and wildlife office they will get you pointed in the right direction. For the most part land is scheduled at least 60 to 90 days in advance so you should be able to work around any training that may take up areas. Make sure you have a good understanding of the rules that come with hunting on post.

RTW

Thank you for the information! I'll call their recs & wildlife office like you recommended. I hunt on Scott AFB, but I'm guessing the rules are different given you can hunt w/ a rifle @ Ft Carson (archery only on Scott AFB). Have you hunted Ft Carson?

 

[drno32]

There are better options with 3rd rifle OTC than Fort Carson. I spent my last 5 years training reservists out there, many times we'd get last minute ranges and I'm sure it ruined some hunting plans. Sadly I hated it but officers always came up with "new ideas". I mostly saw pronghorn, turkey, and big cat on Fort Carson.

 

[SPDSpappy]

There are better options with 3rd rifle OTC than Fort Carson.

Please quantify what you mean by your statement? Looking at GoHunt, 591 has a 32% success, the next highest % is 25 (GMU 142) for 3rd rifle OTC.

 

[Addicting]

I will second the last min range changes. I just took over our Battlions ammo account and noticed we had lots of 7.62 ammo left. So we decided to run a crew serve weapons familiarization for one of our companies that just got 6 M240 machine guns. The only weekend we had free to shoot we scooped up the range. Our mission has a high priority designation and we bumped others that were training because of the STZ of 7.62 is so far. Pissed off some bow hunters for sure but that is the only time that worked to get the training in.

Point is, don’t bank on the schedule it changes.

 

[SPDSpappy]

I will second the last min range changes. I just took over our Battlions ammo account and noticed we had lots of 7.62 ammo left. So we decided to run a crew serve weapons familiarization for one of our companies that just got 6 M240 machine guns. The only weekend we had free to shoot we scooped up the range. Our mission has a high priority designation and we bumped others that were training because of the STZ of 7.62 is so far. Pissed off some bow hunters for sure but that is the only time that worked to get the training in.

Point is, don’t bank on the schedule it changes.

Was that one of the days where you had the barrels red hot? I know you Army guys can run through some ammo!! The only AF guy I know who really goes through ammo works as an engineer down @ Eglin doing ammo testing.

Good points to consider for sure. I don't want to spend my leave and tag money and not get to hunt... Do they just close down the one area when training is being peformed, or every area?

 

[Mudranger1]

Fort Carson is OTC for 3rd rifle just like 66% of the state....you can hunt 2/3 state along with 50000 other people

 

[Reverendekim11B]

You have to get your rifle registered through the provost marshal before hand, which can be a pain. And yes they can close down for training but we have two infantry brigades not here right now so if you are gonna try this is the year to do so. Plus you also have pinion canyon maunver site to consider as well.

 

[drno32]

What I mean is 591 is OTC or a limited draw of late season cow oct 1 - Jan 31. I'm looking at stats from CPW from 2016 showing 3rd rifle success of 19% with 17 harvests of 91 hunters. Or if you drew the late season cow I see 38% success with 6 cows, 2 calves harvested of 21 hunters. I live less than 10 miles from base and I won't hunt elk there as there are better options further west that recently opened up to OTC. By all means give it a shot if you wish but that's a lot to gamble while traveling that far. You won't be stepping on my toes if you stick with Carson lol

 

[drno32]

What I mean is 591 is OTC or a limited draw of late season cow oct 1 - Jan 31. I'm looking at stats from CPW from 2016 showing 3rd rifle success of 19% with 17 harvests of 91 hunters. Or if you drew the late season cow I see 38% success with 6 cows, 2 calves harvested of 21 hunters. I live less than 10 miles from base and I won't hunt elk there as there are better options further west that recently opened up to OTC. By all means give it a shot if you wish but that's a lot to gamble while traveling that far. You won't be stepping on my toes if you stick with Carson lol

I guess I have to eat my words since I was looking at 2016 not 2017 statistics but still stand with the 2000 mile journey vs Fort Carson regulations & training.

 

[SPDSpappy]

Fort Carson is OTC for 3rd rifle just like 66% of the state....you can hunt 2/3 state along with 50000 other people

My thoughts were most people wouldn't go through the process to get access to hunting on base, thus reducing the pressure.

 

[SPDSpappy]

You have to get your rifle registered through the provost marshal before hand, which can be a pain. And yes they can close down for training but we have two infantry brigades not here right now so if you are gonna try this is the year to do so. Plus you also have pinion canyon maunver site to consider as well.

The iSportsman site says one just needs to complete a FC Form 66-E for the firearm I.A.W. FC Reg 210-18. I believe I can get the form when I'm on my work computer. Is this not correct? Good to know about the two brigades being gone, thanks!

 

[BDH]

Thank you for the information! I'll call their recs & wildlife office like you recommended. I hunt on Scott AFB, but I'm guessing the rules are different given you can hunt w/ a rifle @ Ft Carson (archery only on Scott AFB). Have you hunted Ft Carson?

I haven't been able to yet, I have been stuck in the south. Hopefully I get to retire out of Carson. Lots of people confuse Live Fire Ranges with Training Areas. Training Area are where you will hunt. Live fire ranges are segregate from training areas via an impact area. Therefore completely different scheduling of last min training.If you are close to Carson go and hunt it. I have had a number of friends stationed there that have killed decent bulls there and its very controlled.

 

[SPDSpappy]

I haven't been able to yet, I have been stuck in the south. Hopefully I get to retire out of Carson. Lots of people confuse Live Fire Ranges with Training Areas. Training Area are where you will hunt. Live fire ranges are segregate from training areas via an impact area. Therefore completely different scheduling of last min training.If you are close to Carson go and hunt it. I have had a number of friends stationed there that have killed decent bulls there and its very controlled.

Every b/p/c/s seems to have different terminology. I've only been around hunting on Scott AFB and Eglin AFB. W/ Scott, you only really need to worry about the firearm training range on the back side, Eglin you have to worry about unexploded ordinances... I'm not close to Ft Carson as I'm coming from near St. Louis. I had also thought about going to Ft. Sill, but the web based training for Ft Carson makes it MUCH simpler than Ft Sill where you have to go in person.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Unfortunately, GMA 59 had 0% success last year, so if I bought a tag for 59/591, started hunting Ft Carson, and Ft Carson closed to hunting, it looks like I'd be hosed...

Fort Carson is OTC for 3rd rifle just like 66% of the state....you can hunt 2/3 state along with 50000 other people

You wouldn't be hosed. Fort Carson is OTC for 3rd rifle, and in Colorado an OTC tag is valid for all units in the state that are open for that season. It would be wise to have an additional unit picked out to hunt if Fort Carson closes for whatever reason.

 

[nhn2a]

Does anyone w/ a CAC have recent experience hunting elk on Ft Carson? If so, is it worth trying? After reviewing GoHunt, this appears to be my best bet for 3rd elk rifle season in terms of % success. I've found and read some old threads on Hunt Talk about hunting Ft Carson, but I think the issues brought up 5 years ago are not necessarily valid any more b/c of the online system they've put into place (iSportsman). I read in one of the threads they close down hunting during the week in many cases. Is this still true? I plan to be out hunting for the entire 3rd season and I don't want want to waste my 2k mile trip and only get to hunt on the weekends. This is my first time hunting elk (or anything out west) and I want to give myself the best chance.

Thanks!

I havent hunted Fort Carson but I do hunt Fort Bragg a lot. I'm assuming Fort Carson has a similar process to Bragg where you have to attend a safety briefing and orientation before they will issue you a permit. Just make sure you factor that into your timeline as well and verify what days and times they give those. At Bragg, the classes are only offered twice a week and they can fill up fast especially right before season opens. Also dont trust the times listed on the website, I'd call the office and ask someone as with everything in the military things change fast and they are slow to update the website. I'd hate to hear you drove all that way just to find out the class you planned on was full or cancelled so you couldnt get a permit.

 

[BDH]

I would skip fort Sill and go straight to Fort Campbell. I am assuming you are active duty and Fort Campbell does a good job of taking care of active duty.