Chris in TN
FNG
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2025
- Messages
- 74
Long time lurker. Fifty years old. I've been out west a handful of times and walked around on BLM and USFS ground in SD, WY, a sliver of UT and NM, and a decent swath of CO. I killed a small mule deer *LONG AGO* on BLM and have killed 2 bull elk and one cow, all on private land.
I hunt deer, a lot, here at home, mainly private but a bit of public (it's hard to get over a mile away from the parking lot where I live, almost impossible, my longest excursion locally was deboning and packing a whitetail doe about 1.5 miles, which is child's play, I know) and always have, but that's a different world and I'd really like to learn to hunt public land elk.
I'm at what I think is a transition point in life - I suspect that my days of hunting with my lifelong partner, my father, are close to their end. But my oldest daughter has a turkey and three deer under her belt and I'd like to introduce her to the concept of wild places and doing (or, attempting) incredibly difficult things. If all goes well my other kids will follow - maybe as hunters, maybe just as pack animals. I want them to see some of the things I've seen, armed or not.
I can't teach my kids what I don't know. I can take them on guided hunts and as time and money allows I am 1000% hoping to do that, but I recognize that doing so is often more entertainment than education.
I am at least considering taking the oldest this year on an OTC CO elk tag or secondary draw tag, but it might be next year - or we might be able to do guided antelope next year and wilderness elk in 2 years. Or both. I have no plans etched in stone at the moment. She and I both have a handful of points for various species in SD, WY, and CO, and I honestly have more ideas for potential hunts than I likely have years left to share them with the kids.
I've been across enough of CO to know that elk live on most USFS ground in sufficient numbers that choosing a unit comes down as much to logistics and aesthetics (and tag availability) as anything and while I've pored over statistics and will continue to do so I think I know the places I want to focus on and I have enough grasp of the internet to not mention game units here - because they all get hammered and they all still hold elk anyway. I'm 100% certain most of my how-to questions apply across unit boundaries. I know that any legal animal is a trophy on public ground. I know my kids have limitations and for the foreseeable future that means I don't want them in a wilderness in two feet of snow, so we're mainly looking at 1st/2nd rifle seasons, pre-migration rifle hunting, on high pressure, high altitude areas where if it snows we'll either be able to get off the mountain in front of it or get to a lower point to watch a migration corridor as long as we can. I have a long and not so positive history with snow in Colorado and while I've hunted for a week in a foot of the stuff I'd prefer to avoid that until my kids are physically much more ready for it, and, honestly, once it snows I sort of like the idea of being on private land with less to go wrong and less potential to suffer for getting snowed in five miles from the truck.
Anyway I'm here to learn and just saying 'hi' before I dive into some questions on scouting and how to ground-check your e-scouting 2-3 days before season without blowing everything off the mountain.
I hunt deer, a lot, here at home, mainly private but a bit of public (it's hard to get over a mile away from the parking lot where I live, almost impossible, my longest excursion locally was deboning and packing a whitetail doe about 1.5 miles, which is child's play, I know) and always have, but that's a different world and I'd really like to learn to hunt public land elk.
I'm at what I think is a transition point in life - I suspect that my days of hunting with my lifelong partner, my father, are close to their end. But my oldest daughter has a turkey and three deer under her belt and I'd like to introduce her to the concept of wild places and doing (or, attempting) incredibly difficult things. If all goes well my other kids will follow - maybe as hunters, maybe just as pack animals. I want them to see some of the things I've seen, armed or not.
I can't teach my kids what I don't know. I can take them on guided hunts and as time and money allows I am 1000% hoping to do that, but I recognize that doing so is often more entertainment than education.
I am at least considering taking the oldest this year on an OTC CO elk tag or secondary draw tag, but it might be next year - or we might be able to do guided antelope next year and wilderness elk in 2 years. Or both. I have no plans etched in stone at the moment. She and I both have a handful of points for various species in SD, WY, and CO, and I honestly have more ideas for potential hunts than I likely have years left to share them with the kids.
I've been across enough of CO to know that elk live on most USFS ground in sufficient numbers that choosing a unit comes down as much to logistics and aesthetics (and tag availability) as anything and while I've pored over statistics and will continue to do so I think I know the places I want to focus on and I have enough grasp of the internet to not mention game units here - because they all get hammered and they all still hold elk anyway. I'm 100% certain most of my how-to questions apply across unit boundaries. I know that any legal animal is a trophy on public ground. I know my kids have limitations and for the foreseeable future that means I don't want them in a wilderness in two feet of snow, so we're mainly looking at 1st/2nd rifle seasons, pre-migration rifle hunting, on high pressure, high altitude areas where if it snows we'll either be able to get off the mountain in front of it or get to a lower point to watch a migration corridor as long as we can. I have a long and not so positive history with snow in Colorado and while I've hunted for a week in a foot of the stuff I'd prefer to avoid that until my kids are physically much more ready for it, and, honestly, once it snows I sort of like the idea of being on private land with less to go wrong and less potential to suffer for getting snowed in five miles from the truck.
Anyway I'm here to learn and just saying 'hi' before I dive into some questions on scouting and how to ground-check your e-scouting 2-3 days before season without blowing everything off the mountain.
for you today 
