CO Muzzy VS Archery

[elkocd]

Because of last years changes to the tag allocations in the high demand units I am throwing in the towel on the archery unit I was close to drawing before the change. Decided I want to just be done with CO and go on a hunt with my son. He has enough points to draw a mid tier archery tag. For me the archery tag would only take about 1/2 the points I have, but I noticed that I could also draw the muzzy tag in the same unit. The muzzy dates are pretty good next year. I have never really thought too much about a muzzy hunt, but it does intrigue me. What do you guys think about those hunts as compared to an archery hunt in the same unit? We'd have at least 2 weeks so we could overlap the week before or after the muzzy season and during.

I'm kinda torn on the idea. Part of me says just stick with the longer archery season and part of me says there is a reason the muzzy is harder to draw and more likely to kill a bigger bull as well as a better use of my points.

What do you guys think?

If it matters, I have a ton of elk hunting experience all over the West and am 100% confident in killing a good bull with either so it really is not about opportunity. More about which season I could kill a bigger bull in. I have spoken with other hunters as well as outfitters in the unit to get an idea of the quality of bulls in the unit and the info I have seems pretty consistent. I think we could find the caliber of bulls we'd be looking for, but the range of the muzzy seems like it could be a benefit in killing one.

 

[bnsafe]

Im burning 6 points on a 2 point unit so I can muzzy hunt with my daughter next year. Part of that is Im burning co points so I can quit buying pp every year, part of it is hoping this is a bucket list hunt with my daughter so its worth it. Yea, I wish she had more points and we could go to a better unit, but it is what it is, and we are both super excited.

 

[sndmn11]

I think you would be bananas to choose a ML hunt code over an archery hunt code in the same unit. The only advantage to ML is that you don't have to draw the bow and 0-100yds.

 

[elkocd]

The only advantage to ML is that you don't have to draw the bow and 0-100yds.

That is kinda where my head is at

Maybe I'm just hung up on wasting 17 years of applying on a hunt I should have just drawn 15 years ago, but that is my own fault and I will get over it. A backcountry archery hunt with my son will be worth it.

Yeah, I'm going archery and will spend most of the season in the unit.

 

[5MilesBack]

I would always take the archery option. More time to hunt always trumps the weapon for me, especially since ML is only a week. I wouldn't worry about "dumping points" for some units, but it would depend on the unit. You could also split it up and get two years of hunting together if he gets the tag next year, and you get it the year after. I have a buddy that has 16 resident points and his dad has the same. That's what I recommended to him.......getting two years of hunting together with only one tag per year.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I chose a ML tag over archery hunting last year (because of a time off thing) I regretted it. Thing is, if they aren’t rutting during ML, you are kind of SOL which they may or may not be, 2024 does have better dates than 2023 did. With archery if they aren’t fired up that week no biggie come back in a week or two

 

[Gerbdog]

Personally i'd Take more hunting days. You may tag out on the first day you hunt..... but then you may tag out after hunting 20 days.....

I will be looking at some ML tags in other states next year, but not in CO since it overlaps with archery. Wont give up my archery season for it

 

[cuerro viejo]

I dont know, getting close to a big 370 bull with archery and no shot was fun, but probably not as fun as the ML hunter that got him four days later.

 

[southLA]

If you can only hunt one week as a NR does it tip the scales?

 

[CObywayofUSAF]

I'll go against the grain here and say ML. Granted, I'm not sure what unit you are looking at which would also probably weigh into my decision based on how much pressure they are getting during that ML season. The unit I hunt every year is a draw unit that is about the same to draw for ML/Ar and there is a noticeable shift in what the elk start doing once the guns go off.

The obvious risk as others have mentioned is timing the rut, etc. being limited to the 9 day season. I've seen both sides. 2022 was incredible for me ML hunting. Screaming bulls, animals everyday, etc. 2023 it balanced out and was horrible with heat and rain.

With all of that being said, if you are asking what season you have a better chance of killing a big bull in, I still say it's muzzy season. Yes, you are taking more of a risk and limiting your season. However, at the end of the day there is something to be said for having 3X the range of a bow. Closing that last distance with big bulls is always the hardest part, aside from maybe finding where a big bull is.

 

[Elknut53]

I am thinking along those same lines. I'm primarily an archery Elk hunter and I have 12 points for Elk in Colorado. My som has 6. The area I originally wanted to draw an archery tag for when I started applying in Colorado is out of my reach now so I'm probably going to switch things up and draw a Muzzleloader tag this year in a unit my son can draw an archery tag in. I think we will break the hunts up into 2 years. My hunt this year and his next. . Not set in stone as we have several states that we might draw Elk tags in this year but that's the thinking right now.

 

[Cfriend]

It might be that I'm just not a very good archery hunter, but in my opinion the muzzleloader gives you a huge advantage if you find elk. Double (or more) range and not having to draw your bow is a big deal. Also, you can take the brushy shots where you only have a small window because you don't have to worry about the arc of your arrow.

Like the others have said though, you are risking having trouble finding elk if its a bad week or the weather is wrong. If you have a lot of flexibility or are a resident, the longer season is a big plus for archery. However, a lot of people (especially non residents) can only commit to one week anyway. If you are one of those, I think muzzy is the way to go as far as a chance of success.

With all that being said, I always go archery just because that is what I enjoy the most...

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[Clayt]

I still prefer the longer archery season but it seems the past few years the muzzleloader season has coincided with some good late rut activity. The additional range is nice, even with the primitive restrictions CO puts on muzzleloaders. If you have the time to put in, the archery is better overall, I think.