Any Native American members here? Ever do the Southern Ute cow elk hunt?

[bbc26]

I drew the Archuleta unit this year and have never been. Looking for advice on weather and terrain. Camping options also. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[bbc26]

Nobody? How about any experience in the area of Ignacio, Utah? I've got calls into the Tribes wildlife division just haven't heard from them yet.

If there are any Native Americans here that haven't been on or heard of this hunt, you should look into it. The Southern Ute Tribe outside of Ignacio, UT draws 120 permits (60 for each of its units) every November for a 9 day season in January for cow elk. Application fee is $25 and permit fee if drawn is $125. To be eligible applicants must be able to provide proof of being an enrolled member of a Federally recognized Indian tribe, have no felony convictions or a record of hunting, fishing, or wildlife-related offenses. They also hold a mandatory orientation meeting for all hunters on the night before the season opens. You are allowed to bring up to two people with you. First one is free, second one is $20.

 

[durangobrad]

Ignacio is in Colorado, there are lots of elk and deer on the tribal land that time of year.

 

[bbc26]

You're correct. Ignacio and the reservation is in Colorado. As I was writing that I think the Ute is what had me writing Utah.

 

[durangobrad]

Weather has been pretty warm lately 45 and sunny. it will get cold at night 10-20 degrees for camping. The terrain on the ute land is very flat and lots of scrub oaks.

 

[bbc26]

Thanks Durango. From what I could tell on google earth it didn't look like they had much elevation but I was just guessing on where the reservation was.

Gonna take my wife for her first out of state hunt. Glad she'll only have to deal with the cold and not a whole lot of elevation change.

 

[Robert Hendren]

Interested to hear how your hunt went? Access, application process and terrain....

Bob

 

[bbc26]

Hunt was successful but cold. Below zero mornings and teens, low twenties during the day. Got up to mid 30s one day. Snow storm the week before the hunt brought a couple feet of snow.

The Reservation is checker boarded with private and Nat'l Forest in the unit that we hunted. There's a dirt road that the county maintains running through it. We just parked on that road and hiked in to areas to hunt. I'm not sure if they will allow you to backpack hunt and camp in these areas. My wife is just getting into hunting and we don't have her fully outfitted for cold weather camping yet so we didn't even ask. But the unit is only about a half hour from Pagosa Springs. The map they provide isn't the best but onXmaps shows the reservation as BIA land and using both their map and my gps we were able to get where we needed without issue.

The Application process is fairly easy. I just printed the application, sent it in with a $25 money order for the app fee, a copy of my Tribal ID, and a copy of my drivers license. Once drawn I was able to pay the tag fee online. They hold an orientation the evening before the opener and give a power point explaining the regs, possible fines, access points, and hand out maps, a survey, your license, and a crossing permit for your vehicle.

Terrain wasn't too bad. We had snow shoes and they helped a lot. We spoke to other hunters who had been on the hunt in the previous 5 years between the 3 of them and they said its never been that bad. At most they remembered 6-10 inches of snow on the ground and patchy in most areas. Lots of scrub oak and not heavily forested. Even with a couple feet of snow I got my cow at about 2.25 miles from the road. We followed game tracks in and only had to deal with deep stuff for about a quarter mile to get elevated and glass. Got lucky and had a spike and 6 cows work their way to me from about 700 yards and only had to move about 25 yards to get a 182 yard shot. Didn't think they would because we had bumped about 20 deer on the way in.

 

[bbc26]

 

[bbc26]

 

[jordanrw23]

present! But not from southern Utah more like northern Montana

 

[Robert Hendren]

Bbc. Thanks so much for the info. This would make a great hunt opportunity for my boys. I might send you a pm.
Bob

 

[bbc26]

No problem Bob, anytime.

 

[NCrawford]

I drew this tag this year and it will be my 1st elk hunt. Any advice? I've searched everywhere to see if there was anyone who could give any information on this hunt and nothing until I stumbled upon this thread. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[bbc26]

Which unit did you draw Crawford? My nephew and I drew the Archuleta unit. This will be my second year on this hunt his first. I have no info on the Sandoval unit and limited on the archuleta but will help any way I can.


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[NCrawford]

Which unit did you draw Crawford? My nephew and I drew the Archuleta unit. This will be my second year on this hunt his first. I have no info on the Sandoval unit and limited on the archuleta but will help any way I can.


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I drew the Archuleta as well. Im seriously going in blind, but ready for the challenge. I live in Northern CA and will be driving over Wed (Jan 4th) evening hoping to arrive Thur evening. I'm really excited for the experience.Do you know where we can camp?

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[Nomad]

Beautiful pics and great story. Congrats!

 

[bbc26]

Crawford, I think they allow camping at the Capote Campground. That will put you within 20 mins of the heart of the unit. It is off of the 160 at the 151. I'd call their Dept of Wildlife Resource Management at 970-563-0130 to find out for sure though. Last year when we went there was a couple feet of snow on the ground and below zero overnight temps so pack accordingly.

Here is a link to the map for the Archuleta unit
https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Archuleta-Mesa-Hunt-Unit-Map-2017.pdf

 

[NCrawford]

Crawford, I think they allow camping at the Capote Campground. That will put you within 20 mins of the heart of the unit. It is off of the 160 at the 151. I'd call their Dept of Wildlife Resource Management at 970-563-0130 to find out for sure though. Last year when we went there was a couple feet of snow on the ground and below zero overnight temps so pack accordingly.

Here is a link to the map for the Archuleta unit
https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Archuleta-Mesa-Hunt-Unit-Map-2017.pdf

Awesome!! Thank you so much.. My husband will be coming with me so I'm not sure who's more excited.

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[bbc26]

Not a problem, happy to give what little help I can. If you run a gps, an onx card would help. The unit is kinda checkerboard between Reservation and Private/Nat'l Forest. I got my cow down in the southeast of the unit in a small area between Nat'l Forest and that purple Tribal Member assignment on the map. I was told by one of the Tribes Rangers to avoid hunting near the King Ranch. They said if your elk runs onto their property and expires, you most likely won't get permission to retrieve it.