Advice on CO 3rd Rifle Experience

[ChasinElk]

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I am a late onset hunter who started elk hunting (rifle) in 2018 in CO with some long-time hunter friends. Had a total fluke year my first time out and got a 4 pt bull, thanks to them. have hunted most years since, and have never tagged another bull, let alone seen another legal bull. was hoping for people's advice after some mistakes and challenges from 3rd rifle in CO i just returned from.

Summary from this years hunt, 3rd rifle OTC bull tag:
-traveled to CO for 3rd rifle as usual. got delayed with the winter storms, so arrived at camp Sunday afternoon (day 2/7). I have hunted the same OTC unit in south central CO for the last 6 years, and the group has hunted it for 20+. It has low success rates, like most OTC units. Hunt with a group of friends who mostly road hunt, so i usually branch off and hike deeper off the roads to glass and look for sign.
-Monday morning we glassed a group of about 8 cows at around 9500 ft, 700 yards away across a drainage. Feeding around 830AM, then bedded down in the sun at tree line around 9. Friend's son had a cow tag, but wasnt comfortable with the shot and they didnt want to pursue them, so we watched them for a while and then left. Came back to this spot a couple more times in the week but never saw them again, did see another hunter on the hillside later though, who may have been chasing them.
-Tuesday Morning i went up higher around 11k feet where i have found bull sign prior years, and found fresh beds, tracks, and scat, all appeared to be from one or two bulls. the tracks dropped into steep drainage with no good way to glass into it, so i followed them backwards and found the fresh beds from the past 12 hours or so and fresh scat. Noted it to return to later.
-Tuesday evening got 2'' of fresh snow, sat a park watching for elk near where we saw them Monday but no luck.
-Wednesday morning tried to find a way to glass the drainage and bed area from Tuesday morning, but couldnt get a good angle on it. Hiked back into the beds and didnt see any fresh track or sign, seemed like they moved lower with the fresh snow and cold.
-Wednesday late morning i hiked down a different drainage and found very fresh tracks heading up the drainage and over into the next one. Followed them backwards and found beds, scat, and scrapes on downed aspens from one or more bulls, that were less than 12 hours old since the shavings were on top of fresh snow. Elevation was 10,500 ft. also smelled elk a couple times. I didnt follow the tracks back over to the next drainage as my buddy was meeting me at the bottom of the drainage, and i didnt expect to be able to "chase" him down in the specific terrain
-Wednesday evening i hiked back into the drainage where i saw the beds, Smelled elk a couple times, but no new sign. couldnt find a good spot to post up, so went back out to the park at the base of the drainage for sunset, but didnt see anything.
-No action Thursday, and left Friday morning.

My questions, specifically with trying to find a legal bull, as i reflect on this:

1. When we glassed them monday morning, would you have tried to stalk around the drainage to get closer to them and see if any legal bulls? Or perhaps sat on them for the morning to see where they went and if any others came out? We didnt expect legal bulls with cows this late, so we just watched them for a while and left. If i had that cow tag, i would've made a stalk, but my question pertains to looking for a legal bull.
2. When i found the fresh bed and sign Tuesday morning, would you have followed the tracks down into the drainage to try and track the bull, or what would you do? It's thick timber, so would likely just need to track slowly and try to not bump him/see if i could somehow track him down, glass the thick timber some catch a glimpse.
3. Do you return to an area you found beds and fresh sign, or do you find that elk wont return to that area after you leave a scent trail? Ideally would want to come back and glass this area somehow, but everywhere i found the beds was impossible to glass, probably why they liked it and stayed safe.
4. For the Wednesday late morning tracks, beds, sign, would you have followed those tracks into the next drainage over to try and track him down, similar to #2? Or what would you do?
5. Any other advice on what to do during the hunt?

Overall was a great trip with friends, but on Friday as i was driving home, i had this sudden sense of regret, and thought of "why didn't i try and follow those tracks and do more to try and track down those bulls?" Hoping to turn my regret into lessons for future hunts. Part of me feels like i am doing the right things, and finding good fresh sign and some cows, so maybe i am doing ok. The other part of me feels like I cant be doing that good if i cant even glass up a bull despite finding all this fresh sign.

Thanks in advance to anyone with input. Guess i have 51 weeks to try and dial things in.

 

[Slickhill]

I hunt a low odds OTC bull tag in CO every year I don’t draw a deer tag. Been hunting it for over 20 years and my family has been hunting it for 45 consecutive years and on and off for almost 70.

If I cut a fresh bull track I will pursue him every time. Slowly and quietly, always mindful of the wind. He may be the only bull in the area for the week and I’m not going to guess at where he’ll be tomorrow if I can find him today.

Huge herd bulls may not be with cows in 3rd season. But often small bulls will. It’s certainly worth a look, a 5” browtine on a 3x isn’t asking much of a bull to make him legal. I killed a very small 4x5 out of a herd of cows and calves a couple years ago. He was tiny but he was 100 percent legal and good eating. This year I saw several small bulls with cows.

I don’t like to sit a bunch. Elk where I hunt are not a high density animal. The odds I pick the same 10 acre park they do out of thousands of acres is remote. I prefer to still hunt morning and evening and be at a good saddle during the day while I eat lunch. You have to be quiet and ever mindful of the wind. Use your glasses as you go. Maybe not the preferred method for everyone but I’ve filled 3 of my last 4 bull tags.

Last the dude who wasn’t willing to put a sneak on a herd of elk with a legal animal only 700 yards away didn’t want to fill his tag very bad.

 

[ChasinElk]

I hunt a low odds OTC bull tag in CO every year I don’t draw a deer tag. Been hunting it for over 20 years and my family has been hunting it for 45 consecutive years and on and off for almost 70.

If I cut a fresh bull track I will pursue him every time. Slowly and quietly, always mindful of the wind. He may be the only bull in the area for the week and I’m not going to guess at where he’ll be tomorrow if I can find him today.

Huge herd bulls may not be with cows in 3rd season. But often small bulls will. It’s certainly worth a look, a 5” browtine on a 3x isn’t asking much of a bull to make him legal. I killed a very small 4x5 out of a herd of cows and calves a couple years ago. He was tiny but he was 100 percent legal and good eating. This year I saw several small bulls with cows.

I don’t like to sit a bunch. Elk where I hunt are not a high density animal. The odds I pick the same 10 acre park they do out of thousands of acres is remote. I prefer to still hunt morning and evening and be at a good saddle during the day while I eat lunch. You have to be quiet and ever mindful of the wind. Use your glasses as you go. Maybe not the preferred method for everyone but I’ve filled 3 of my last 4 bull tags.

Last the dude who wasn’t willing to put a sneak on a herd of elk with a legal animal only 700 yards away didn’t want to fill his tag very bad.

Thanks for the detailed reply, this reinforces my error that i should have followed those tracks. I think i was so caught up in my friend's hunting style of mostly road hunting and not wanting a long packout that i didn't think for myself and try to track them down. Lesson learned, and hopefully i get on some fresh tracks next year to put this in practice.

I would love a big bull, but i 100% will shoot the first legal bull i see. I felt like i had researched elk habits a lot, including that the bigger bulls likely weren't with cows for 3rd season, but that you could get a smaller, legal bull still in the herd, which is exactly what my 4x4 was. I think i was too caught-up trying to find places to glass in a unit that doesn't work great in. Sounds like i was doing more or less what works for you, and is probably the right move in those units, but i blew the important part to try and go track the bull down.

When you cut a fresh track through thick timber, can you elaborate a little on how exactly you go follow that track? what do you do if the wind is at your back (if you follow the track, it will wind you, but if you veer off to try and get down wind, you cant follow the track)? do you usually walk right next to the track itself, glassing as far ahead in the track as you can? Do you try and guess where it is heading with OnX and try to circle around to glass into an area? It always feels so unlikely you can track and glass up a bull in that thick timber, but i know it can be done and im missing some pieces of the puzzle.

thanks again for the input, sounds like you hunt a similar way as i need to in this unit, and that's reassuring to hear you have good success. I'll enjoy my tag soup this year as a reminder for how i need to hunt.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Coulda shoulda woulda’s are real. Decided against taking a solid 3x3 buck opening morning during third, turns out by the end of the week that buck was looking might nice in retrospect, but we make the best decisions with info at hand. Always good to reflect about what you would have done differently if you could go back, and then let that change your behavior in years to come

 

[ChasinElk]

Coulda shoulda woulda’s are real. Decided against taking a solid 3x3 buck opening morning during third, turns out by the end of the week that buck was looking might nice in retrospect, but we make the best decisions with info at hand. Always good to reflect about what you would have done differently if you could go back, and then let that change your behavior in years to come

Thanks, at least the regret of what i should have done is strong enough to make me hunt smarter and harder next time. I'm mostly self-taught for all the back-country style hunting as my buddies mostly road hunt, so this will be another learning point towards hopefully bagging a future bull.

 

[sndmn11]

not wanting a long packout that i didn't think for myself and try to track them down. ...

. I felt like i had researched elk habits a lot, including that the bigger bulls likely weren't with cows for 3rd season, but that you could get a smaller, legal bull still in the herd, which is exactly what my 4x4 was.

If you track them down, nobody says you have to shoot if doubts about the pack out arise. No better way to learn than to find animals you could/"should" shoot and committing the day to watching their behavior.

Kick the idea of only baby bulls live in bigger herds. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't; we tend to see multiple medium "lifetime" bulls in herds during rifle seasons because they all need the same food and security.

 

[Packer9037]

I really enjoy going west and hunting. But it's a trip that requires significant investment for us non-residents. I've had some sit down convos with a couple hunting buddies who didn't want to hike too far or were willing to spend days at camp instead of on the mountains...maybe a conversation with the guys from camp on hunting expectations from your end would be helpful too.

 

[ChasinElk]

If you track them down, nobody says you have to shoot if doubts about the pack out arise. No better way to learn than to find animals you could/"should" shoot and committing the day to watching their behavior.

Kick the idea of only baby bulls live in bigger herds. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't; we tend to see multiple medium "lifetime" bulls in herds during rifle seasons because they all need the same food and security.

Thank you, good point on that. I would be ecstatic to even glass a legal bull, even if i decided it wasn't a practical place to pack it out of.

Also good to know on bigger bulls. I think i need to focus on finding elk and vetting out a herd/area for legal bulls. The good news is i feel like i have had ok luck finding elk, as well as tracks that were for sure bulls. Just need to write the rest of the story in the future and go chase them.

 

[ChasinElk]

I really enjoy going west and hunting. But it's a trip that requires significant investment for us non-residents. I've had some sit down convos with a couple hunting buddies who didn't want to hike too far or were willing to spend days at camp instead of on the mountains...maybe a conversation with the guys from camp on hunting expectations from your end would be helpful too.

Agreed on that. Between the tag cost, plus fuel and time away from home, it's always a huge investment. Especially vs my local friends who has a resident tag and 3 hour drive.

You hit the nail on the head about hanging at camp or hiking. I was "adopted" into the hunting group, which i am eternally grateful for. I always enjoy the camping and hanging out part as well, and thats a big part of why i go. However, i really want to hunt hard and try to bag an elk.

The cool part of your comment is that i can easily just go my own way during the hunting day, and still come back to share dinner and stories at camp with my buddies, and they wouldn't care at all. This was a good learning experience that i need to just branch out and hunt hard the way i want to, and can still camp with everyone and enjoy that piece as well.

 

[Mtndawger]

Start paying more attention to the specific features of the places you see elk or where they have bedded etc. What aspect, near the top, bottom? Relationship to other drainages , ridges. Which way was the wind blowing in this location? Which type of cover…spruce/fir, aspen stands, transitional cover..where and on what were they feeding? Think about approaching from below during am/pm in clear weather as thermals are descending and from above during the warm part of the day when they are rising. Thermals are key and elk usually position themselves where they can take advantage of them for safety. Elk are particular about all of this for safety/security and you won’t often find them in random places. Elk are patternable but the patterns may shift weekly due to weather, food, pressure. Going after a herd is easier said than done and I’ve seen too many who go about it the wrong way and blowing the elk out instead of planning a stalk based on wind, terrain, time of day, other hunter pressure. Don’t beat yourself up too much over lessons learned.

 

[ChasinElk]

Start paying more attention to the specific features of the places you see elk or where they have bedded etc. What aspect, near the top, bottom? Relationship to other drainages , ridges. Which way was the wind blowing in this location? Which type of cover…spruce/fir, aspen stands, transitional cover..where and on what were they feeding? Think about approaching from below during am/pm in clear weather as thermals are descending and from above during the warm part of the day when they are rising. Thermals are key and elk usually position themselves where they can take advantage of them for safety. Elk are particular about all of this for safety/security and you won’t often find them in random places. Elk are patternable but the patterns may shift weekly due to weather, food, pressure. Going after a herd is easier said than done and I’ve seen too many who go about it the wrong way and blowing the elk out instead of planning a stalk based on wind, terrain, time of day, other hunter pressure. Don’t beat yourself up too much over lessons learned.

Thanks for the tips, good things to think about. The good news is i have seen beds in some of these areas multiple years, so now i need to tie the rest in and watch the thermals and try to predict direction of travel, etc. I think i was too hung up on trying to glass into these areas where i would find beds when there is no good way to do that, so i need to dial in my stalking and stop trying to glass them from 1000 yards away when there is no way to do that through all the trees. Counting down to next year now.