CO first rifle advice

[Speck1]

I picked up a first rifle tag in the leftover this morning. I have archery hunted elk for a long time but I am always done by the end of September. I will be hunting NM this September. I plan to hunt the same CO unit that I have archery hunted many times before. What can I expect on Oct 12th besides lots of orange? I plan on hunting the same way I do for archery as that is all I know. Bulls should still be vocal I would think.

 

[TheViking]

It's hit or miss for bulls being vocal, I've seen it both ways. I would do the same as you did during archery though, they'll be in the same places.

 

[Deerhunter6250]

I agree with TheViking above,

 

[Poser]

-Bulls *can* still be vocal, but also very pressure affected after a month of being called to.

-They will be grouped up into herds with a solid hierarchy established, so expect multiple bulls in a herd. With this in mind, they may not have much of a reason to be vocal. This doesn't mean they won't be, but there's little to no confusion about the hierarchy.

-If there is a mature bull herd in the group, its very difficult to lure him away from the cows. He has 30 cows, he doesn't need to bring the fight to you, a challenger bull would need to bring the fight to him. So, your thinking is: "he has the cows, he's the boss, I'm there to challenge him and take his women." You're going to really have to work him up to pull him out from a group of cows.

-don't spook the cows! If you do, he'll follow them out vs. messing with a challenger.

Other than that, use the same tactics you do for archery. I will add, this is a 5 day hunt. That is a very short amount of time. You need to make the most of it because overcommitting to "going deep", changing basins etc costs a lot of time when there are only 5 days. I've found that the first 2 days of the season are critical for success. After the first 48 hours, chances for success plummet. I scout thoroughly the weekend before the season and then take off work starting on Wednesday before the season. Since the first 48 hours are so critical, you need to frontload the season with all of the scouting information you can possibly gather and have a plan for the for first 2 days.

 

[Speck1]

I appreciate the advice. Fortunately it’s an area I know very well. I limit myself to 3-4 miles from camp. Packing one out solo at my age isn’t as much fun anymore. I will have a couple days to see what all the pressure has done to them.

 

[poboy2214]

I picked up a first rifle tag in the leftover this morning. I have archery hunted elk for a long time but I am always done by the end of September. I will be hunting NM this September. I plan to hunt the same CO unit that I have archery hunted many times before. What can I expect on Oct 12th besides lots of orange? I plan on hunting the same way I do for archery as that is all I know. Bulls should still be vocal I would think.

I’m guessing if you got it in the leftover, it’s probably a higher pressure unit so I would be surprised if they’re vocal and if they are, they’ll probably shut up pretty quick after they hear the first gunshot. Can’t speak for your unit, but in my experience, they’ll start out high but once the shooting starts, they start to drop into the thicker nasty stuff.

 

[cnelk]

This is more in tune where I hunt....

But in my experience, they’ll start out high but once the shooting starts, they start to drop into the PRIVATE stuff.

 

[hoosierhunter11]

I’m guessing if you got it in the leftover, it’s probably a higher pressure unit so I would be surprised if they’re vocal and if they are, they’ll probably shut up pretty quick after they hear the first gunshot. Can’t speak for your unit, but in my experience, they’ll start out high but once the shooting starts, they start to drop into the thicker nasty stuff.

Possible but not always true, I have a buddy who snagged a 6PP elk tag yesterday.

 

[taskswap]

In 2022, I did a scouting hike on the Thursday before the opener. I left at around 5am to get to where I wanted to glass, and for the stats geeks, it was a fairly warm and dry morning, I'd say about 45 or so. I got to my "sit" just around dawn, about 6:45 IIRC. I was on a bluff overlooking a meadow with a stream running through it, a classic "park", and I counted 5-6 bulls I would absolutely have loved to take home including a 6x7. That's a monster in the area I hunt. They were surrounded by a group of 25 or so cows and there were plenty of bugles. From the distance I was at, I could only hear the bulls, but I would be surprised if the cows weren't bleating back as they do. I counted probably 50+ screams while I was there, about one a minute or so.

They hung around the meadow for about an hour, then started "melting" into the surrounding trees and generally moving uphill as the sun rose. By about 8am they were gone, and the bugles stopped.

By Friday as other hunters set up more camps nearby, they were gone and I never saw them again. I never heard another bugle. That's how fast it can change.

I worked that same ridge in 2021 and 2023 and in neither case did I hear any bugling at all. In 2023 there was heavy snow (over a foot) that pushed the elk down, literally the same "Thursday before the opener". All I saw was tracks moving lower. In 2021, they just weren't there.

I have a friend who is a wildlife biologist. He focuses on birds but I trust his judgment in a lot of things. He insists that by the time the shooting starts, bugling is useless. The elk are done rutting and even the stragglers know it's not them, and they're focused on hiding, so they aren't attracted by i. It might even be dangerous if some trigger-happy newbie throws a round your way. I don't have all the answers here, but there are a few more data points for you to consider at least...

 

[khunter]

"I plan on hunting the same way I do for archery as that is all I know."

Well, if that archery approach did not include a ton of glassing versus simply chasing bugles, time to alter the approach and glass A LOT as there is a good chance of less bugling going on.

 

[Speck1]

"I plan on hunting the same way I do for archery as that is all I know."

Well, if that archery approach did not include a ton of glassing versus simply chasing bugles, time to alter the approach and glass A LOT as there is a good chance of less bugling going on.

The area I hunt is mostly aspen parks up top with thick drains dropping down. It’s not very conducive to glassing more than 800 yards. It’s not a big area but it’s a great sanctuary once they feel the pressure. I would assume most rifle hunters would look for better glassing country so hopefully I won’t have much company. Elevation is right at 10k. I don’t think they will move out of there before late October. I can’t wait to find out

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I've hunted first rifle a fair amount, I've heard a rut fest once and it was over quick before sunrise as hunters converged in that first 30min. Some notable bugling the first hour another time, other times I'll hear a stray bugle here or there but its usually pretty quite. The best strategy for first rifle is have one in your sights at shooting light morning 1 cause after than first hour of the first or two of the day elk get a lot more scarce. I wouldn't be shocked to hear 3/4 of the harvest is that first morning.

 

[Fever Buck]

In Colorado I’d always hear bugling during 1st rifle from the bulls on private. Totally quiet on public.

 

[Short Track]

Unit 70, I will tell you is 'hunted out' down low during 1st rifle. Elk move up very high real fast... and if there's no snow up top, they are not coming down to feed.

 

[cciliske]

I’m guessing if you got it in the leftover, it’s probably a higher pressure unit so I would be surprised if they’re vocal and if they are, they’ll probably shut up pretty quick after they hear the first gunshot. Can’t speak for your unit, but in my experience, they’ll start out high but once the shooting starts, they start to drop into the thicker nasty stuff.

Was curious on this as we were scouting our unit two weeks ago and most of the elk country is thick timber. With that, our approach was to get in prior to season and scout like one would expect (high point glassing, etc.) but assuming we can't see through it - are you just stalking in dark timber? Basically, move slowly / quietly and then pause with the three Ls - and work your way through the target areas. That's out thought / approach - just want to see if we're idiots or not.

 

[3forks]

Was curious on this as we were scouting our unit two weeks ago and most of the elk country is thick timber. With that, our approach was to get in prior to season and scout like one would expect (high point glassing, etc.) but assuming we can't see through it - are you just stalking in dark timber? Basically, move slowly / quietly and then pause with the three Ls - and work your way through the target areas. That's out thought / approach - just want to see if we're idiots or not.

You’re not idiots, but hunting the timber without taking into account the topography is a mistake.

You probably know that, but thought I’d mention it in the event that it didn’t occur to you to have an objective while working through the timber and hitting likely features like benches and finger ridges.

 

[poboy2214]

Was curious on this as we were scouting our unit two weeks ago and most of the elk country is thick timber. With that, our approach was to get in prior to season and scout like one would expect (high point glassing, etc.) but assuming we can't see through it - are you just stalking in dark timber? Basically, move slowly / quietly and then pause with the three Ls - and work your way through the target areas. That's out thought / approach - just want to see if we're idiots or not.

I've had decent luck finding them this way, basically work your way through with the wind in your favor and look for sign. Once you start seeing it or smelling them slow way down. This has worked for me when hunting solo, but if you guys are going to stick together I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Speck1]

That’s how I hunt the thick stuff. Still hunt along benches and around springs with the wind in my face. I usually spend the middle of the day watching pinch points in travel corridors especially when other hunters are pushing elk around.

 

[taskswap]

Was curious on this as we were scouting our unit two weeks ago and most of the elk country is thick timber. With that, our approach was to get in prior to season and scout like one would expect (high point glassing, etc.) but assuming we can't see through it - are you just stalking in dark timber? Basically, move slowly / quietly and then pause with the three Ls - and work your way through the target areas. That's out thought / approach - just want to see if we're idiots or not.

What I do is hardly a master strategy, but what works well for me is:

* Scout an area I want to target a day or two before
* Get myself in there by 5-6am at the latest opening morning.
* Stake that out and glass for about an hour past opening light.
* Still hunt uphill through any timber stands, benches, etc that I want to poke through.
* First lunch at 11am, being quiet and using the time for more glassing.
* Still hunt another few hours, usually rounding out the back side of a long loop.
* Second lunch and more glassing around 2-3pm.
* Still hunt back downhill through more terrain and water features.
* Arrive at another likely watering hole at least an hour before legal light ends.
* Stake that out.
* Steak and bourbon around the campfire.

I hunt Rifle 1 in a zone with moderately heavy hunting pressure and a dense mix of timber stands and small meadows plus a number of creeks and seeps. This strategy has worked well for me so far because by moving less, I let pressure from other hunters drive game to me and in that season, elk care more about safety, food and water (hence the focus on water) than things like the rut. This would probably be totally ineffective in archery, light-pressure zones, 4th season, or another location with different terrain.

You have to work out a strategy that works best for you and also factor in things like your fitness and so on. I'm not bragging (plenty of people hike way more than me) but it's very common for me to do a 10 mile loop even moving as slowly as I do. Even if I'm only moving 0.5mph, if you figure I'm doing 2 miles in quickly and 2 miles out the same way, and have all those hours in between, I can cover a lot of ground. I've had seasons where I easily covered 50 miles according to my GPS. I know plenty of guys who just pick a spot and hunker down all day and many are just as successful. I would just go crazy sitting still that long.

 

[cnelk]

The last time I hunted 1st Rifle Season I sat in the same tree stand I did for archery season.

About 30 mins after daylight I shot a big ol cow right below my stand with my 340 Weatherby.