Colorado Archery Units 35, 36, 361 & 45

[wdsmhunter]

My hunting partner and I are headed to CO towards the end of the month and are curious about a couple of things regarding Units 35, 36, 45 & 361.

First, we are not asking for spots.

Second, I potentially have the ability to scout a little bit later next week, but for the most part we are limited to aerial photos for our scouting, unfortunately.

Third, I've read Robby Denning's book and it was a great read. Not only well written, but the information was helpful and thought provoking with entertaining stories in between.

Fourth, we are diehard midwest whitetail hunters with limited western hunting experience. I hunted Unit 444 two years ago for the first time and he has an elk hunt or two under his belt. We were unsuccessful in 444, but it was still a great opportunity to gain the experience and learn some things.

Regarding 35/36/45/361:
1. So far we have spent most of our time focused on 35 and 36 because we feel like 45 probably has more human traffic (hikers, hunters, mountain bikers and everyone else using the mountains) than the other 3. Is that an accurate assessment or should we be giving more time to 45 and 361?

2. Does the presence of hikers and other random human traffic weigh into your decisions over selecting areas to hunt or are the deer for the most part used to it?

3. Between 35 and 36, should we expect to see fewer people in one over the other? I know one is largely private land vs the other largely wilderness, but am curious.

4. How much pressure do hunters on the private lands put on these areas during the archery season?

5. Do the deer in these units still use the high country in late August or do they quickly concentrate a little lower in timbered areas as soon as the season starts?

We are planning to be mobile and gearing up to truck camp/day hike or backpack for a few days depending on how things go, so hopefully we are flexible and can make something work.

Thanks for reading and we look forward to whatever feedback you're willing to help with.

 

[Zdubs]

The Gore Range is one of the most rugged ranges I have spent time in. I haven't hunted 36, but have spent time in the Piney River drainage and it is always a zoo, I would avoid it.

 

[dirtytough]

I’ve always had an itch for that tag. Bucks should still be in summer patterns. I wouldn’t worry about hiker traffic. Some of the biggest bucks I’ve seen in the high country have been rifle shooting distance from trails. I try to find areas without trails, but I also glass areas by trails or glass from from trails. There are a few spots in 45 I’ve always thought would be good looking at google earth. But if you found spots in 35-36 that look good to you then I would hunt there.

Good luck

 

[Jimss]

Keep in mind that those units are OTC for elk. Any 2 track road, trail, etc ought to have lots of pressure....especially once the rut kicks in and loads of elk hunters go afield. There is lots of remote areas without roads or trails....some are super isolated. You may find nice bucks in overlooked areas? Unfortunately deer are super migratory in those units. Generally speaking deer are scattered with low density through the units during archery season. Obviously deer and elk get spooked off public onto the larger private land parcels...especially from gobs of OTC elk hunters. Once bucks shed their velvet they go into seclusion mode in Colo and may be super tough to find until deep snow and the rut brings them out of their hidey holes. There are some nice bucks in that area but you'll have your work cut out for you!

 

[hobbes]

My answers come from living in the region and hunting elk there for 5 years from 06 to 11, not from any real experience hunting them. I did however glass them while elk hunting and generally paid attention to what I saw. I had that tag for this season as a NR, so was finally going to try to put that stored info to use. However, some unavoidable things got in the way and I had to return it.

1. Homestake, Holy Cross, and the trailhead at Minturn will have the most hikers in 45. The trailheads north of Vail in 36, I think that's Piney, will have plenty of hikers also.

2. Most of the hikers stay on major trails and don't wander off into the alpine unless there is a trail. Id just plan to be away from major trails. Use them for access but I wouldn't set camp on top of one.

3.OTC elk hunters may be found anywhere, but typically the farther you get from truck or atv access the better. While animals can be found in unnoticed places near trails and roads, I prefer a little more seclusion.

4.The private land will have minimal pressure.

5.The bucks should still be in velvet and in the high country. I would concentrate my efforts glassing that country in late August. However, I've seen a stud wandering on the edge of Eagle in a guys driveway that time of year, so there is potential to find them anywhere. There will always be a few bucks that don't follow the playbook.

 

[Broken Compass]

My buddies and I are in the same situation as you. I think we are just gonna wing it. Good luck!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wdsmhunter]

Thanks for the feedback guys. It's great to have a resource like this to bounce things around, we're really looking forward to getting out there and seeing what we can turn up.

Good luck to you as well!

 

[JBahr]

Just returned from 36. Saw 3,000 head of noisy, smelly, eating everything in their path Sheep! So many that it created a dust cloud from miles away that we first thought was fire. Does anyone know if sheep are allowed in National Forest/Wilderness Areas? I couldn't even believe the terrain the cowboy had them in!

 

[hobbes]

You'll find more sheep in the surrounding area than cattle. Dang it must be dry if they created that kind of dust. I've seen plenty of cattle in wilderness areas, so I suppose there are sheep grazing rights also.

The sheep, their herders, horses, and dogs don't help any kind of hunting. Most of those herders are out of South America and live in those mountains alone all summer.

 

[wdsmhunter]

I was able to get out and do a little scouting last week, which was enough to get some feeling for the lay of the land at least...and did end up seeing A mule deer and a big moose, so that was cool. Didn't get too deep in any of the units, but happy I was able to at least get a look at part of it.

We are finalizing our gear lists - does anyone use treestands or calls for mule deer? I guess I haven't seen that much if any in videos or anything like that, but am curious if it's worth throwing in. Obviously treestands would be for truck camping, not backpacking.

 

[KHNC]

Be sure to let us know the exact area you find elk in when you are done with your hunt. Good luck.

 

[Southforkguy]

Heck yeah headin out that way 2nd rifle. Cant wait to see what kind of army shows up.

 

[Danimal]

You'll find more sheep in the surrounding area than cattle. Dang it must be dry if they created that kind of dust. I've seen plenty of cattle in wilderness areas, so I suppose there are sheep grazing rights also.

The sheep, their herders, horses, and dogs don't help any kind of hunting. Most of those herders are out of South America and live in those mountains alone all summer.

Just left that area. Lots of sheep still in the mountains. We never saw game around the sheep. Talked to the shepherd and they were running 1800 head near our area. Definitely put a wrinkle into our original plan. My guess is that the game can deal okay with the sheep, but they're probably not fond of the herd dogs. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[sndmn11]

Those herders are bar none the absolute best sources of information. A 12 pack of Mountain Dew and they will tell you everything they know and usually pack out your animal if they have the horses needed.

Deer and Elk do just fine when sheep and cattle are around, so believe them if they tell you some are closer to their grazers than you think they should be.

 

[wdsmhunter]

We found the sheep and some deer and elk, but struck out on bucks and ran out of time. I'm guessing the animals do work around the sheep/herders to some degree and we tried to avoid them partly just because we didn't want to listen to all those sheep! Noisy bunch.

Danimal - I believe we may have crossed paths and talked to you on our way in and probably ended up in your guys's campsite. We ended up connecting on a cow elk and were happy to put some meat in the freezer!