Colorado 2nd rifle

[Sethhubby]

Hey guys, this is my first post here. Looking for tips for Colorado’s 2nd rifle season. What are the bulls usually doing that time of year? I’ve been archery hunting the last 2 seasons and have found herds both times but couldn’t seal the deal. That was about 7 miles deep in some nasty country. Should I expect to find them there again? And one other thing... we never seen any other hunters in our area during archery. Should I expect to see more pressure during rifle season that far in? Any info is appreciated!

 

[cnelk]

Gotta remember that 2nd Season is also deer season. That’s why it’s called the 2nd Combined Season.

Hordes of hunters.

What are the bulls doing? Running for their lives.

 

[Jimss]

Elk tend to venture to areas with the least amount of human pressure. This is often private land in OTC units. They've already been hammered pretty hard from archery, muzzy, and through the first rifle seasons.

 

[Indian Summer]

What are the bulls doing? Running for their lives.

Haha! A realist. I was going to say hiding but you beat me to it.

 

[Indian Summer]

Are you sure you can get to your archery area then? What was the elevation? If it’s even a little high you should have plan B at a lower elevation ready. Common sense will tell you elk will move down IF THEY HAVE TO. If that happens I like to hunt as high as I can. I’ll camp far enough down that I won’t have to waste time moving camp and drive up to where I want to start hunting.

People ask about using 4 wheelers. But one of the best hunts I’ve had was late season and a friend brought a snowmobile. We went to a high trailhead. It was an open road but no longer usable by trucks. The snow was also too deep for anyone to hike up as high as we went. The going was a little tough but omg the elk were stacked up! By then multiple herds had joined into bigger ones. When I shot my bull elk that I hadn’t even seen ran out of draws and from the opposite side of adjacent fingers. If the weather gets nasty while you’re there push yourself to the limit like that and you’ll do well.

 

[Daniel0307]

Everything above very true, muzzy and first rifle combined with deer hunters always has the elk on the move usually to private ground.. The weather always varies year to year if there is any snow, I think it rarely has them pushed down that early.. Rifle season usually helps to know where others will hunt and push them to you which takes a couple of years to figure out on public land.. I’d stick with archery if you truely don’t have any other competition

 

[CO HTNR]

Success during second season depends mostly on the unit you plan to hunt and the weather. If you plan on packing in close to treeline you need to make sure you are prepared for major snow during 2nd season. If you have been in elk during archery and haven't been seeing many people I would personally stick with that even if I wasn't successful-keep learning and perfecting your skills. If it is an OTC unit there will be people crawling everywhere during 2nd season.

 

[Sethhubby]

Are you sure you can get to your archery area then? What was the elevation? If it’s even a little high you should have plan B at a lower elevation ready. Common sense will tell you elk will move down IF THEY HAVE TO. If that happens I like to hunt as high as I can. I’ll camp far enough down that I won’t have to waste time moving camp and drive up to where I want to start hunting.

People ask about using 4 wheelers. But one of the best hunts I’ve had was late season and a friend brought a snowmobile. We went to a high trailhead. It was an open road but no longer usable by trucks. The snow was also too deep for anyone to hike up as high as we went. The going was a little tough but omg the elk were stacked up! By then multiple herds had joined into bigger ones. When I shot my bull elk that I hadn’t even seen ran out of draws and from the opposite side of adjacent fingers. If the weather gets nasty while you’re there push yourself to the limit like that and you’ll do well.

I’m from Alabama so I have no way of knowing. That was another question I have is how much snow to expect that season. We were at 10-11000 ft during archery

 

[Sethhubby]

Everything above very true, muzzy and first rifle combined with deer hunters always has the elk on the move usually to private ground.. The weather always varies year to year if there is any snow, I think it rarely has them pushed down that early.. Rifle season usually helps to know where others will hunt and push them to you which takes a couple of years to figure out on public land.. I’d stick with archery if you truely don’t have any other competition

Thanks for the info. I’m new to this. I’m just not familiar with how far elk will travel when people say they push down to private ground. The area we’ve been hunting is in the middle of a wilderness and miles from any kind of lower private ground. Thought the big bulls might push up to those nasty basins

 

[CO HTNR]

It may be worth seeing if you can draw a 1st season rifle tag for that unit. Since 1st season elk tags are draw only there typically is a little less pressure, however, there still will be more people than in archery (there also could be leftover tags available if it doesn't draw out). I think the odds of finding elk at that elevation would be similar to what you have experienced in September. If you don't draw the tag you you would still have the opportunity to pick up an OTC 2nd season tag.