Archery vs 2nd rifle colorado elk hunt

[Huntinman57]

Myself and couple buddies are gonna elk hunt colorado it will be our first trip out we was leaning towards archery season but have slightly considered the 2nd rifle season. Any pointers on whats a better hunt?

Thanks in advance

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Depends on unit, pressure, weather, etc both have their pros and cons,


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[wannakillabigbull]

Either can be a good hunt, just gotta pick which you’d rather do (or what fits your schedule most) and go for it. Don’t overthink it.

 

[Jimss]

Sounds like you are considering OTC units? There is a high learning curve! I would suggest coming out in the summer and scouting things out to get a feel for what you are up against. Each unit is a little different as far as where elk will be found archery vs 2nd rifle. You may want to take a look at the harvest reports to get a feel for success during each season in the units you are interested in. Bugling elk are pretty fun...if you can get into them! Many OTC you will likely hear more elk bugles coming from hunters than actual elk unless you get off the beaten path!

 

[under h2o hunter]

Rifle has a high success percentage. It also has more people. Weather is usually cooler then archery but not always. If killing is whats most important then rifle is what you should do. But if you care about an experience then Archery can't be beat... September in Colorado is unreal. Beautiful colors, crazy weather, screaming bulls... When God had to pick his favorite month he said SEPTEMBER it shall be.

 

[Huntinman57]

Otc i plan to have camp on my back 2-3 days at a time. We would love to just get into elk and if get a legal bull killed that would be great. I think we have a unit but we are not set in stone.

 

[Jbehredt]

September in the CO mtns can’t hardly be beat. Getting into elk is a welcome bonus.

 

[justinspicher]

This past season I hunt 24/30 days in September and it was a blast. Hunted all of 1st and 2nd rifle season as well and had an equally good time. Archery OTC is longer and you can shoot a bull or a cow, 2d rifle is five days and you can only shoot a bull.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

This past season I hunt 24/30 days in September and it was a blast. Hunted all of 1st and 2nd rifle season as well and had an equally good time. Archery OTC is longer and you can shoot a bull or a cow, 2d rifle is five days and you can only shoot a bull.

2nd rifle is 9 days.


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[justinspicher]

Correct, thanks for the clarification.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

This past season I hunt 24/30 days in September and it was a blast. Hunted all of 1st and 2nd rifle season as well and had an equally good time. Archery OTC is longer and you can shoot a bull or a cow, 2d rifle is five days and you can only shoot a bull.

You can draw 2nd rifle cow tags. Some units had leftover available too.

 

[COlineman78]

Rifle has a high success percentage. It also has more people. Weather is usually cooler then archery but not always. If killing is whats most important then rifle is what you should do. But if you care about an experience then Archery can't be beat...

If success rate is a concern for Archery there is a chance to get the best of both worlds with muzzleloader. You can get over a 50% chance at drawing either sex muzzy in most units with 0 pts and 100% chance at a cow. Or wait a year and your entire group can all get either sex muzzy for quite a few units. For the unit I hunt muzzy is 25% vs 12% for archery. That being said, I think that the lower success rate for archery can be attributed to mentalities of hunters for the different methods.

Most archery hunters I know are after a bull first and most muzzy hunters I know will shoot anything that's not a calf and that's reflected in the statistics (51:7 archery vs 3:10 muzzy in my unit). My guess is that if archery hunters had a brown it's down mentality they would be up there in the 20%+ success range. The unit I hunt archery is 51 bulls killed to 7 cows; just given odds and numbers of animals this should be much higher on the cows side, so of the 413 people that didn't fill I would bet at least half passed on a cow.

You can draw 2nd rifle cow tags. Some units had leftover available too.

But for an out of stater to get both tags would run over $1k. His point is that with an either sex tag you'll have the option come the last day to drop a cow if you want.