Doing some e-scouting and research about where some of the outfitters/other hunters, and other non-hunting recreationers would be and it seems like there is no way of getting at least 1 mile (1600km for you weird people) from a named trail as suggested from an e-scouting course I'm going through. The only problem, from what I can see, there's a named trail as found on OnX and National forest maps. How does anyone deal with this who have dealt with the trails almost everywhere in the basins that I think would be a good place to look. This on top of it being an OTC it's almost a magnet for hunters, which would be good for me on one hand being entirely new to hunting, and wondering how other people work around this. Feel free to ask me further questions as it might help me give me more details of what I'm seeing.
Worried about trails and roads. What to do (Colorado)
- Thread starter kwa_bena
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Art Vandeley
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E scouting course ? Woah
Hunt&FishCO
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I have no idea what your actual question is. Can you rephrase?
seeth07
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The bulls my wife and I shot in Colorado this year (granted it was 1st season and a draw) were 500 yards from the north road and 550 from the south road. A hiking trail also went right down the middle and the bulls were shot almost right off of it. It was on the front range near Denver and the thought of "getting away from people to find elk" just isn't possible in this area. So, with that said and knowing your looking in Colorado, I wouldn't necessarily hold to the 1 mile mark. Just so many people who hike in the state and compared to other states, the trail system is quite expansive.
What point excatly are you confused about and I'll try to clarify there
Zootownelk
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In my experience, there's a big difference between "trails" and "motorized trails" as well.
So basically just try to work around them is what you're getting at? I was thinking about heading to the areas where I would think they would be and look for any indications there. I have the luxury of being able to fly out for the weekend once or twice a year to look at the area myself if I can figure out what airline flys to which airport and when.
FlatlandHunter
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I hunted within a quarter mile of a marked backpacking/hiking trail and took a cow elk in 2018. I saw people everyday and camps were around. Just kept hiking and hunting until I found one.
recon6036
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We filled 3 out of 4 Cow tags this year about 300 yrds off a road. The road was gated and we walked a couple miles in. Food, water and nearby heavy timber
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Hunt&FishCO
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What I gather is you’re asking about how to hunt highly accessible and highly recreationalized unit in the early season.What point excatly are you confused about and I'll try to clarify there
Generally - the resident animals who stick around will be conditioned to human presence and pressure. You also didn’t clarify what you’re hunting, but being it’s OTC I’m guessing elk since we don’t have OTC for deer.
Elk generally won’t hang out in basins exposed during daylight hours. Still hunting the timber (North/East facing) in bedding areas would be the strategy I’d go with in non-motorized accessible areas.
maconbacon
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You really just have to go and find out for yourself. They could be deep, could be right off the trail, or neither.
In my experience in CO where I’ve hunted, the majority of elk I found are closer to the trailhead and main trails than they are far in. You’ll have to find the happy medium between going in far but dealing with outfitters and drop camps, and not going far enough and encountering road hunters. Like in most things in life, the truth often lies in between the two extremes.
When I first started hunting this unit, I really thought most animals would be deep in the back country, but much higher densities were found medium distance from the trailhead.
In my experience in CO where I’ve hunted, the majority of elk I found are closer to the trailhead and main trails than they are far in. You’ll have to find the happy medium between going in far but dealing with outfitters and drop camps, and not going far enough and encountering road hunters. Like in most things in life, the truth often lies in between the two extremes.
When I first started hunting this unit, I really thought most animals would be deep in the back country, but much higher densities were found medium distance from the trailhead.
Not all miles are equal. Terrain matters. Look for half mile to 2 miles in on a trail, they get across the second ridge and start hunting. Most will check that first basin or bowl, but not cross it just to climb another hill and look into the 2nd or 3rd basin
Would this go for basins with lot of timber as well? The area I'm looking at is designated wilderness so no motorized traffic that I have to worry about other than the edges. The main goal of this trip, my first, is to find out where they have been. I'll hit up a biologist to see what they know or seen.
I have my radius set to 3-5 miles in but I'm willing to go in further if I end up seeing one and following it to see where it goes...provided that the thing doesn't know that I'm on its tail
Yeah, good luck with that unless you have snow.
Hunt&FishCO
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I think @Dave N was eluding to getting an elk out of that kind of situation being that far in.
Don’t over think it; wilderness areas hold plenty of elk and are not as recreated / pressured as you might think.
Don’t over think it; wilderness areas hold plenty of elk and are not as recreated / pressured as you might think.
Okay got it.
It's the treeline academy e-scouting course. From what I hear it's really good for people like me who doesn't even know how to look at an area
