Advice: Outfitter Frequents Drainage

[Bugle]

I've done a lot of e-scouting for my first elk trip to Colorado during 1st Rifle. I have an option A thru D, with strong preference (and time spent scouting) for option A. However, yesterday I started going through satellite image history & using Sentinel hub and saw that right in the middle of one of the clearings I have marked 4-outfitter tents pop up in September every year. I am assuming they will be there this year as well.

On one hand - this means I've picked a good drainage to hunt. On the other - I'm worried about being pushed out by the outfitters. The drainage is roughly 7-miles deep, steep and heavily timbered (GMU 82 in the Sangres). There are maybe 6-10 glass-able clearings. This being my first elk hunt, I'm not sure if I should just take the sunk-costs in scouting and move to options B+, or if 4 tents (maybe 2-3 hunters each?) is enough to overcrowd a drainage?

Any insight?

 

[RdRdrFan]

Too busy for me.

There is obviously a reason that they are there though.

 

[idahohikker]

Sounds like enough room to roam. I’d scoot out if it was a small drainage. Six miles is pretty big.

 

[Shrek]

Use it to your advantage. You know where they’re leaving from every morning and if you can figure out how the outfitter uses the drainage you can figure where he’s pushing animals to. Good hunting !

 

[Bugle]

Sounds like enough room to roam. I’d scoot out if it was a small drainage. Six miles is pretty big.

The drainage is deep, but heavily timbered with limited glassing areas, so I'm worried we'll be fighting over those spots.

Use it to your advantage. You know where they’re leaving from every morning and if you can figure out how the outfitter uses the drainage you can figure where he’s pushing animals to. Good hunting !

My best guess is that bumped animals would move into the heavy timber down the drainage, rather than into the adjacent drainage since the ridge is steep. If they've been pressured since archery season, maybe they do move to the neighboring drainages, though. Thanks for the advice.

 

[UtahJimmy]

Will you have horses or others with you? Seven miles is stupid far to pack an elk out. Being your first elk hunt, I would advise you against going that far, they are BIG critters...

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[Jhunt45]

Second the caution on 7 miles, depending on the terrain, could be tough.

 

[Bugle]

Will you have horses or others with you? Seven miles is stupid far to pack an elk out. Being your first elk hunt, I would advise you against going that far, they are BIG critters...

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The drainage is 7-miles to the ridgeline, but really only the first 4.5 are huntable due to how steep it gets near the top. The area where the guides are set up is about 3.5-miles in. Our plan was to camp about 2.5 to 3-miles deep and hunt near the area they are set-up (their set-up was labeled as my 2nd best potential spot).

We will have llamas at our camp to help pack out - we were advised that they were much easier to handle than mules. We mainly got them because my dad is coming with me, and he was worried about pack-weight.

 

[Sportsman]

My best guess is that bumped animals would move into the heavy timber down the drainage, rather than into the adjacent drainage since the ridge is steep.

I don't know what steep is for this particular slope but if this is your first hunt, you will be surprised what an elk can climb and fast.

And glad you have llamas. At 5+ mile packout, you'll be worried about pack weight a size well once the weight is on your back. You didn't say party size, but if it's the two of you, that would be 3-4 round trips minimum with 70+ lbs to pack out a bull and your gear.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Your first elk hunt and it's in the Sangres? I hope you guys are tough. Best of luck and be sure to let us know how you do.

 

[Bugle]

Your first elk hunt and it's in the Sangres? I hope you guys are tough. Best of luck and be sure to let us know how you do.

Every piece of advice I've read/heard has been similar to yours about the Sangres. It has us pretty nervous about the terrain (being flatlanders). I do have some backpacking/hiking experience in CO and MT; hopefully we do okay with it. I was trying to get away from the crowds with 0-preference points, so chose a 1st Rifle unit I could draw as 2nd Choice to still bag a point. Avoiding pressure and choosing a unit with the ability to get in the backcountry led me to Unit 82. I hope it wasn't a mistake. We will find out in 1.5-weeks.

 

[jog]

Don't let them horn you away either, by the presence of their camp and their guides. Most guides are very professional but there are some who are not above intimidation direct of indirect. (the dirty look, the lack of consideration for spacing are examples).
Also, most outfitters will be hand holding their clients- they won't be asking them to dig into a hell hole through dead fall and 15* slopes. Some clients will want that, but most are, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about working hard for their elk. So in part use that fact to your advantage and keep some areas in mind that offer you some choices over the obvious majestic meadow where a guide would place his client.

 

[Bugle]

Don't let them horn you away either, by the presence of their camp and their guides. Most guides are very professional but there are some who are not above intimidation direct of indirect. (the dirty look, the lack of consideration for spacing are examples).
Also, most outfitters will be hand holding their clients- they won't be asking them to dig into a hell hole through dead fall and 15* slopes. Some clients will want that, but most are, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about working hard for their elk. So in part use that fact to your advantage and keep some areas in mind that offer you some choices over the obvious majestic meadow where a guide would place his client.

This is great advice. Thanks.

 

[Poser]

My scouting/glassing High Point for rifle season requires a 7 mile hike through a drainage that an outfitter uses. I hike through there 3-5 weekends between august And October and speak with one of the guides regularly. Granted, I’m glassing across a valley, and this outfitter only uses the area during archery season, but I was a bit shocked to learn how large of a radius this outfitter hunts. They’ve killed elk 7-10 miles and 5,000 feet lower than their camp. They’ll spike out, use horses, hunt down drainages and out to a road and have someone pick them up and drive them back up to the TH and take horses back into camp for a day hunt. In this case, between the outfitter and other hunters in the area, the entire area appears to have been hunted out over the course of September.

Every situation is different and yes, typically, outfitters use spots for good reason, but, barring a Local’s knowledge of the area, a guide who hunts the area for an entire month year after year, is going to know the ins and outs way better than anyone who just shows up with GE scouting knowledge. I don’t think I would attempt to compete -it’s not the hunters themselves, rather it’s the guides.

 

[sndmn11]

Call the USFS and figure out who has permits for the area. Call the outfitter and explain to them that it is your first elk hunt, you have e-scouted the area and noticed what you believe to be their tents. Tell him your intention for calling is that you absolutely do not want to get in the way of his operation and paying clients....then see what transpires from there. You might get some really good information out of that conversation and have nothing to lose from it.

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

Call the USFS and figure out who has permits for the area. Call the outfitter and explain to them that it is your first elk hunt, you have e-scouted the area and noticed what you believe to be their tents. Tell him your intention for calling is that you absolutely do not want to get in the way of his operation and paying clients....then see what transpires from there. You might get some really good information out of that conversation and have nothing to lose from it.

Best advice so far, you definitely have nothing to lose from it.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

There are a few areas I hunt that have Outfitter camps nearby (within a few miles). Despite my proximity to them I have yet to encounter any guides or clients except for on the maintained trails going in and out. I think there is a pretty simple formula, just go where the horses absolutely cannot go due to steepness and deadfall. The only caveat with that plan is your llamas probably wont be able to go into those areas either, so you may have to pack your kill back to wherever your llama camp is.

 

[Bugle]

Call the USFS and figure out who has permits for the area. Call the outfitter and explain to them that it is your first elk hunt, you have e-scouted the area and noticed what you believe to be their tents. Tell him your intention for calling is that you absolutely do not want to get in the way of his operation and paying clients....then see what transpires from there. You might get some really good information out of that conversation and have nothing to lose from it.

Great suggestion. I contacted 2 of the outfitters in the unit who offer hunts during that time period. One responded that they do not hunt that particular drainage and don’t know who might; plus I picked up some useful advice on which drainage they do hunt during the layer rifle seasons.


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[sndmn11]

Great suggestion. I contacted 2 of the outfitters in the unit who offer hunts during that time period. One responded that they do not hunt that particular drainage and don’t know who might; plus I picked up some useful advice on which drainage they do hunt during the layer rifle seasons.


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I think I have read rumors of very large Amish or Menonite camps in that unit. Maybe the Alamosa CPW office can put you in touch with the officer who works the area and they might know.

 

[Bugle]

I think I have read rumors of very large Amish or Menonite camps in that unit. Maybe the Alamosa CPW office can put you in touch with the officer who works the area and they might know.

I spoke with the officer in the area last month to pick his brain about access and things. He didn’t mention anything like that, but I guess I can call him again and ask specifically. They live in the mountains? What do you mean by that?


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