Absolutely! Give this one a try, lots of elk around here:Hey guys, I just moved to Colorado, can you give me a drainage that holds bulls?
Lat 39.6984, long -105. 2116
Moving to Colorado
- Thread starter BKoppelman
- Start date
Lat 39.6984, long -105. 2116
Scarey
Well-known member
Welcome, I am currently relocating as well. Best of luck to you on your move.
8andcounting
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2013
- Messages
- 3,404
Should have been - my bad - deleted my post - did Not mean it to come off the way it did my apologies
davinski
Well-known member
There are a couple BHA events coming up, full draw film tour and the get together up by Camp Hale. Would be a good time to meet other like-minded folks. In CO, if a person is a hunter, odds are they're an elk hunter first and an everything-else-hunter second. GJ resident here, not sure if I'll be able to make either event, but BHA are good folks all around. CO Mule Deer Assn is good as is Rocky Mtn Elk Fndtn for groups and banquets locally. Lots of smoke being blown and high-dollar hunts being peddled at each, but you're bound to meet others that will help you learn.
Don't let the crowds scare you in the OTC units, just get away from the roads. Much of this Western CO country really opens up if you hike off the roads a bit. But lots of folks never get 100 yards from their motor. And get used to sharing the woods with all manner of human, not just hunters. It is Colorado and everyone seems headed here, mainly for the outdoors. The only negative run-ins I've ever had have been with landowners and outfitters getting a little overzealous and I called them on it. The stereotypical earth muffins have never gotten crosswise with me or vis versa. OnXmaps are awesome and worth the investment. CPW publishes a lot of migration route and harvest report data, if you're in to going down those rabbit holes it can arm you with enough data to sniff out bs when you hear it.
Leftover draw tags can get you in some decent cow tag hunts. As someone said, mind the 6-month rule...it pertains to when you buy the tag, NOT when the season starts. You can be a non-resident when you buy the tag but a resident when the hunt starts...CPW will fine you they catch you buying a res tag for that. I typically put in for a point, grab a leftover cow tag, and and OTC bull tag. Hunt elk every year and build points in the process. And for heavens sake grab a bear tag, they're becoming a real problem. Anytime through second rifle season you're bound to see one if you hunt a full week. A Sep rifle or archery bear tag is a great way to scout a unit for hunting later in one of the elk seasons.
Elk are where you find them. It sounds dumb, but it's how I rifle hunt. If you're not seeing them in the early morning and late afternoon, move on to a different location. Many hunters waste a lot of time hunting where the elk should be...but aren't. Plan for getting one, pack frame, game bags, sufficient cutlery, etc. People do get lucky every so often and drop one first time out. There's a lot of "elk hunting" gear being peddled that I don't think is very critical. If you have common sense, good boots, and good glass, a lot of the rest takes care of itself. I packed elk quarters for years in a 20-dollar rummage sale internal frame Jansport pack.
Be weather savvy. Sep-Nov can hold anything from 70's and sunny to full-on blizzard. Getting wet, cold, and miserable can ruin a guy's plans for days. I've seen archery hunters bag it when, if they'd have just burned half a day, gone to town, warmed up and rebooted, could have kept hunting. Some sort of emergency beacon is a good idea, SPOT, InReach, etc. I volunteered with Mesa County S&R for a while and truly believe that those things just flat save lives.
Just about everybody except taxidermists and wildlife biologists will lie to you about where to go hunt. Newberg has some great videos on learning how to hunt elk. CPW elk hunting university videos online are decent too. Solo Hunter, Meateater, even Eastmans are good videos on elk hunts.
Get out and scout the country this summer. I tell people to hunt all year, just shoot them when the state lets you. There is some amazing country around here that is just plain old BLM or USFS and not in any guidebook, park, or monument. Finding those spots is a lot of fun. Grab an old-fashioned gazetteer and highlight all the roads and trails you explore. It gets hard to keep track.
Western CO hunting can be snooping through dark timber or glassing for hours and taking long shots. Decide where/how you want to hunt and equip yourself accordingly. So many guys hang up on what to shoot based on the animal they're hunting. I think what you shoot should be determined by where you hunt, not what you hunt. Lever action 30-30's kill elk, as do ubermagnums with gee-whiz glass. I run the latter, I figured a long-shooter can shoot short but a short-shooter has a heck of a time shooting long. Shot a cow once at 80 yards with my .300 RUM, pretty sure my bullet is still going, but a dead elk is a dead elk.
I started when I moved here in '95 never having shot anything with hooves except SD deer. Honestly, I wish I would have sprung for an outfitted or guided hunt my first go 'round to learn. Didn't connect with a bull until '97. But now we have the internets to learn rather than bumble around like I did!
Welcome and good luck! Shoot me a PM if you want.
Dave
Don't let the crowds scare you in the OTC units, just get away from the roads. Much of this Western CO country really opens up if you hike off the roads a bit. But lots of folks never get 100 yards from their motor. And get used to sharing the woods with all manner of human, not just hunters. It is Colorado and everyone seems headed here, mainly for the outdoors. The only negative run-ins I've ever had have been with landowners and outfitters getting a little overzealous and I called them on it. The stereotypical earth muffins have never gotten crosswise with me or vis versa. OnXmaps are awesome and worth the investment. CPW publishes a lot of migration route and harvest report data, if you're in to going down those rabbit holes it can arm you with enough data to sniff out bs when you hear it.
Leftover draw tags can get you in some decent cow tag hunts. As someone said, mind the 6-month rule...it pertains to when you buy the tag, NOT when the season starts. You can be a non-resident when you buy the tag but a resident when the hunt starts...CPW will fine you they catch you buying a res tag for that. I typically put in for a point, grab a leftover cow tag, and and OTC bull tag. Hunt elk every year and build points in the process. And for heavens sake grab a bear tag, they're becoming a real problem. Anytime through second rifle season you're bound to see one if you hunt a full week. A Sep rifle or archery bear tag is a great way to scout a unit for hunting later in one of the elk seasons.
Elk are where you find them. It sounds dumb, but it's how I rifle hunt. If you're not seeing them in the early morning and late afternoon, move on to a different location. Many hunters waste a lot of time hunting where the elk should be...but aren't. Plan for getting one, pack frame, game bags, sufficient cutlery, etc. People do get lucky every so often and drop one first time out. There's a lot of "elk hunting" gear being peddled that I don't think is very critical. If you have common sense, good boots, and good glass, a lot of the rest takes care of itself. I packed elk quarters for years in a 20-dollar rummage sale internal frame Jansport pack.
Be weather savvy. Sep-Nov can hold anything from 70's and sunny to full-on blizzard. Getting wet, cold, and miserable can ruin a guy's plans for days. I've seen archery hunters bag it when, if they'd have just burned half a day, gone to town, warmed up and rebooted, could have kept hunting. Some sort of emergency beacon is a good idea, SPOT, InReach, etc. I volunteered with Mesa County S&R for a while and truly believe that those things just flat save lives.
Just about everybody except taxidermists and wildlife biologists will lie to you about where to go hunt. Newberg has some great videos on learning how to hunt elk. CPW elk hunting university videos online are decent too. Solo Hunter, Meateater, even Eastmans are good videos on elk hunts.
Get out and scout the country this summer. I tell people to hunt all year, just shoot them when the state lets you. There is some amazing country around here that is just plain old BLM or USFS and not in any guidebook, park, or monument. Finding those spots is a lot of fun. Grab an old-fashioned gazetteer and highlight all the roads and trails you explore. It gets hard to keep track.
Western CO hunting can be snooping through dark timber or glassing for hours and taking long shots. Decide where/how you want to hunt and equip yourself accordingly. So many guys hang up on what to shoot based on the animal they're hunting. I think what you shoot should be determined by where you hunt, not what you hunt. Lever action 30-30's kill elk, as do ubermagnums with gee-whiz glass. I run the latter, I figured a long-shooter can shoot short but a short-shooter has a heck of a time shooting long. Shot a cow once at 80 yards with my .300 RUM, pretty sure my bullet is still going, but a dead elk is a dead elk.
I started when I moved here in '95 never having shot anything with hooves except SD deer. Honestly, I wish I would have sprung for an outfitted or guided hunt my first go 'round to learn. Didn't connect with a bull until '97. But now we have the internets to learn rather than bumble around like I did!
Welcome and good luck! Shoot me a PM if you want.
Dave
Not a bad plan for newbies like us. The more I kick around in my home unit, the more I'm thinking I may burn my 2 elk points local next year.
Rev. J
Member
Welcome from Montrose! Sorry to say, there are no more elk in Western Colorado!
