Planning a last minute diy elk hunt in Colorado

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CTELK83 said:
After not drawing a pronghorn tag my buddy and I were told should be “ no problem” I am now trying to plan an elk hunt. I have some experience, but by no means an expert. I think I have my units down to 421,521 or 52. I have never hunted colorado and my biggest area of weakness is escouting. I could definitely use a few tips. Not looking for a waypoint of anyones honey hole haha. I’m just more curious about things like when I’m looking at onX, what should I be looking for in terms of places or roads to camp off of? Appreciate any pointers from people who have hunted those areas or if one area is “better”. By better I mean more public land and access. I have made a few calls to biologists and will most likely make another one with some more ?s that come up. Also, I’ll be going with a bow and looking to just have fun and hopefully see some elk. I wouldn’t pass a legal elk on day 1 morning 1. Thanks! Good luck everyone this fall
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Best of Luck.
 
CTELK83 said:
After not drawing a pronghorn tag my buddy and I were told should be “ no problem” I am now trying to plan an elk hunt. I have some experience, but by no means an expert. I think I have my units down to 421,521 or 52. I have never hunted colorado and my biggest area of weakness is escouting. I could definitely use a few tips. Not looking for a waypoint of anyones honey hole haha. I’m just more curious about things like when I’m looking at onX, what should I be looking for in terms of places or roads to camp off of? Appreciate any pointers from people who have hunted those areas or if one area is “better”. By better I mean more public land and access. I have made a few calls to biologists and will most likely make another one with some more ?s that come up. Also, I’ll be going with a bow and looking to just have fun and hopefully see some elk. I wouldn’t pass a legal elk on day 1 morning 1. Thanks! Good luck everyone this fall
Click to expand...
We're planning to do the same next year. Curious to see how you do!
 
CTELK83 said:
After not drawing a pronghorn tag my buddy and I were told should be “ no problem” I am now trying to plan an elk hunt. I have some experience, but by no means an expert. I think I have my units down to 421,521 or 52. I have never hunted colorado and my biggest area of weakness is escouting. I could definitely use a few tips. Not looking for a waypoint of anyones honey hole haha. I’m just more curious about things like when I’m looking at onX, what should I be looking for in terms of places or roads to camp off of? Appreciate any pointers from people who have hunted those areas or if one area is “better”. By better I mean more public land and access. I have made a few calls to biologists and will most likely make another one with some more ?s that come up. Also, I’ll be going with a bow and looking to just have fun and hopefully see some elk. I wouldn’t pass a legal elk on day 1 morning 1. Thanks! Good luck everyone this fall
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with short notice hunts, as it beats working or about anything else for that matter. I've hunted all the units you mentioned, but for mule deer. I've seen the most elk in 421 though, and especially in areas that butt up against 52. 421 has some decent fishing too which is always a plus. I love 521 for deer, and have hunted up Muddy Creek many times (especially in the 80's) but I can't say I've seen many elk except at the highest elevations during rifle seasons. I'd be rolling 421 for elk if I was in your shoes.
 
421 can be a madhouse during archery season. Most folks don't seem to venture far from the atv trails, of which there are plenty. I have hunted that unit almost every year for the last 11 years and keep going back because we always see elk. My advice, which is worth even less than you paid for it, is to ignore the crowds and hunt where you think the elk should be. It is a great area and is usually loaded with grouse so bring your sling shot. Good luck!----R
 
old270hunter said:
Nothing wrong with short notice hunts, as it beats working or about anything else for that matter. I've hunted all the units you mentioned, but for mule deer. I've seen the most elk in 421 though, and especially in areas that butt up against 52. 421 has some decent fishing too which is always a plus. I love 521 for deer, and have hunted up Muddy Creek many times (especially in the 80's) but I can't say I've seen many elk except at the highest elevations during rifle seasons. I'd be rolling 421 for elk if I was in your shoes.
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What types of fish do you catch?
 
JAG said:
This rule of thumb is starting to cut both ways:

'the harder it is to get there, the more likely [people are there].

RyGuy's advice is still applicable in that the elk go where people are not. At this stage of the information age, many more hunters are getting in as deep as they can to hit the roadless parts, gravitating to the same burn, hunting the same deep dark nasty drainage, etc.

Look for places where the path skirts away from a stretch of cliff edge or even skips a basin so that it isn't seen from the road. If a cliff is next to a road or trail in two places and the middle section isn't glass-able from the road, then get off the trail and peek inside that little seam.

I'm e-scouting a heavy ATV-use unit right now. I looked more closely at a drainage that I know holds post-rut bulls that were harvested in the past. It is inside 0.5 miles to the closest road, but blocked by a finger ridge on the lower end and a sharp bend on the upper end.

It is too close to get the 'super-fitness hunters' interested but is just far enough to work as a barrier against lazy hunters. It has all the other elements of a sanctuary; steepness, water, and food.
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How many hunters use ATV’s in Colorado?
 
millerkiller77 said:
It's listed on the CPW home page.
There are so many on every road that I hope they start selling otc ATV tags. Point creep for the ones with speakers, no recovery required, and no limit on the the ones harvested between 4pm and 11am .
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How hard is it to get away from ATV trails? Never been elk hunting and have been looking at Colorado OTC archery tags to fall back on if I do not get drawn (0 points) in Wyoming or Colorado. OnX shows a bunch of ATV trails
 
Alexvd said:
How hard is it to get away from ATV trails? Never been elk hunting and have been looking at Colorado OTC archery tags to fall back on if I do not get drawn (0 points) in Wyoming or Colorado. OnX shows a bunch of ATV trails
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I think it varies from area to area. I’ve hunted atv heavy areas before and had no issues getting away but on the other hand I hunted an area once that I walked 2.5 miles back a gated road to a specific area and found a side by side there that shouldn’t have been.
I have somewhat started ignoring the atv trail layer on onX. It always lists trails that are not in existence or never used. If I used onX to avoid atv trails I’d probably never get to hunt.
 
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