Hello,
I recently started searching and reading this forum to learn about how to plan an elk hunt. A group of 3 of us have been talking about elk hunting while growing up and hunting in south central Nebraska and finally we are going to give it a try this year. We are all between the age of 27-29. So far most of my focus when searching for articles, forum posts, other hunter's hunt recaps, etc. has centered around Wyoming and Colorado. Currently we all have 2 preference points in Wyoming and zero in Colorado. Because of our preference point numbers, and the fact that we are going on our first hunt, we are thinking that Colorado makes the most sense. We are open to suggestions on this however.
Below are some bullet points of the goals/thoughts/ideas/plans/and questions that I have came up with so far. I would appreciate any feedback on the items below. Trying to decide where to go can get overwhelming for someone who has never been out there, so these are some key points I've wrote up to try and help give us some general direction. I feel like once we have determined what season and what general region to focus on the detailed research and planning will start to become less overwhelming.
1. Our goals for the hunt are: To see elk, learn how to scout and hunt elk for the given time of year we choose, and have decent chances of harvesting elk if we do our homework and hunt hard. We plan to go on multiple elk hunts in the future, so we are looking for a good entry hunt we can use as a learning experience while having fun and potentially filling tags. We plan to devote 9-10 days to the hunt from the time we leave home to the time we return home, and will likely setup a base camp to give us flexibility in where we go within a given unit as well as get accustomed to camping for a week long hunt.
2. Weapon selection and reasoning: Rifle, mainly because our thinking is that the chances of harvesting an elk are better, plus we like to glass and spot and stalk hunt.
3. We are open to hunting anywhere, since we only have two points in WY we figured it makes more sense to save those and hunt either an OTC 2nd/3rd rifle season bull tag in CO or an either sex 1st rifle limited entry unit in CO that takes zero points to draw. My questions are:
a. Are we way off base in thinking that CO rifle tags give us the best chance to meet our goals?
b. Most of the 1st rifle zero point draw units appear to also have OTC bull tags for 2nd/3rd rifle. Given that the 1st Rifle tag could be
either sex, does it make sense to apply for one of these and use the OTC tag as a backup?
c. For a first time CO rifle elk hunter, does one season have any advantage over the others? Is there less pressure in one? Are elk
easier to find in one vs the others?
d. Are there any negative reasons that some CO 1st rifle limited entry units require zero points? (i.e. difficult access, low elk numbers, too many roads, etc.)
e. Would a Wyoming cow/calf tag be more beneficial and enjoyable for us? I've read about the larger hunter numbers in CO, however I have no idea if that means that you see hunters everywhere within an easy to draw or OTC unit all week long or if the majority of hunters are more casual and stay close to their vehicles. I'm not overly concerned with high hunter numbers, unless the pressure is so high that you could go days without seeing elk on public land.
Thanks for any advice, answers, or recommendations you are willing to share.
I recently started searching and reading this forum to learn about how to plan an elk hunt. A group of 3 of us have been talking about elk hunting while growing up and hunting in south central Nebraska and finally we are going to give it a try this year. We are all between the age of 27-29. So far most of my focus when searching for articles, forum posts, other hunter's hunt recaps, etc. has centered around Wyoming and Colorado. Currently we all have 2 preference points in Wyoming and zero in Colorado. Because of our preference point numbers, and the fact that we are going on our first hunt, we are thinking that Colorado makes the most sense. We are open to suggestions on this however.
Below are some bullet points of the goals/thoughts/ideas/plans/and questions that I have came up with so far. I would appreciate any feedback on the items below. Trying to decide where to go can get overwhelming for someone who has never been out there, so these are some key points I've wrote up to try and help give us some general direction. I feel like once we have determined what season and what general region to focus on the detailed research and planning will start to become less overwhelming.
1. Our goals for the hunt are: To see elk, learn how to scout and hunt elk for the given time of year we choose, and have decent chances of harvesting elk if we do our homework and hunt hard. We plan to go on multiple elk hunts in the future, so we are looking for a good entry hunt we can use as a learning experience while having fun and potentially filling tags. We plan to devote 9-10 days to the hunt from the time we leave home to the time we return home, and will likely setup a base camp to give us flexibility in where we go within a given unit as well as get accustomed to camping for a week long hunt.
2. Weapon selection and reasoning: Rifle, mainly because our thinking is that the chances of harvesting an elk are better, plus we like to glass and spot and stalk hunt.
3. We are open to hunting anywhere, since we only have two points in WY we figured it makes more sense to save those and hunt either an OTC 2nd/3rd rifle season bull tag in CO or an either sex 1st rifle limited entry unit in CO that takes zero points to draw. My questions are:
a. Are we way off base in thinking that CO rifle tags give us the best chance to meet our goals?
b. Most of the 1st rifle zero point draw units appear to also have OTC bull tags for 2nd/3rd rifle. Given that the 1st Rifle tag could be
either sex, does it make sense to apply for one of these and use the OTC tag as a backup?
c. For a first time CO rifle elk hunter, does one season have any advantage over the others? Is there less pressure in one? Are elk
easier to find in one vs the others?
d. Are there any negative reasons that some CO 1st rifle limited entry units require zero points? (i.e. difficult access, low elk numbers, too many roads, etc.)
e. Would a Wyoming cow/calf tag be more beneficial and enjoyable for us? I've read about the larger hunter numbers in CO, however I have no idea if that means that you see hunters everywhere within an easy to draw or OTC unit all week long or if the majority of hunters are more casual and stay close to their vehicles. I'm not overly concerned with high hunter numbers, unless the pressure is so high that you could go days without seeing elk on public land.
Thanks for any advice, answers, or recommendations you are willing to share.
