Colorado Big Game Hunting

[blackhawk219]

Hey everybody, I recently moved to Colorado and I am having difficulties with big game hunting (specifically elk, although this year I'm also going for mule deer). I'm originally from the east coast, but I've hunted in Idaho successfully 2/2 years I went (once for a cow elk and another for a mule deer buck). To me it was way easier to find animals there because of the lack of tree coverage and so I was able to glass huge amounts of area to find them and eventually stalk in to rifle range.

The issue I'm having in Colorado so far (only been hunting 1 year so far), is that there is so much tree coverage that I can't even find where the animals are. So my question is, am I doing something wrong? Maybe I need to change up my strategy or I need to change up my location? I went for 2 rifle seasons last time and I was unsuccessful in both because I just could not even find them. I could not get to a glassing spot with enough open area to glass. I found myself glassing relatively small open areas, but just felt like I was hoping to get lucky that something just happened to walk through that area as I'm looking at it.

For some context, I was in the northwestern part of the state (I can give more details if need be).

Now I haven't been hunting a bunch in CO so far, but I have hiked a lot of it, and it seems to me like there is a lot of tree coverage. Obviously there are areas that don't, but they didn't strike me as areas where there would be a lot of elk. So it seems to me like I can't avoid the heavy timber coverage. Maybe I'm wrong in that thinking as well.

Any help would be appreciated or even any words of encouragement to confirm that I don't suck and maybe I just got unlucky. I just can't help but think that I'm going about this all wrong. I'm going this year for second rifle (bull elk) and third rifle (mule deer buck and cow elk) so I'm hoping to have some better luck.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

Hunt in the trees?

 

[Jimmy]

You don't suck, you'll figure it out. Once you've eliminated where they are NOT, then you know where they are!

 

[blackhawk219]

Hunt in the trees?

I certainly tried that. I tried still hunting through the trees in areas where I saw lots of sign, but no luck. 3 days I tried that and walked 20 miles so not like I didn't cover ground. I just couldn't find them. Maybe I'm moving around too much? The timber is so thick I can't see 50 yards. I just felt like if there was anything within that range, they would smell/hear me before I even saw them.

 

[blackhawk219]

You don't suck, you'll figure it out. Once you've eliminated where they are NOT, then you know where they are!

Yeah maybe I just need to do some more scouting and see where they are actually at. I plan on going to the area I have my elk/mule deer tags for some bear hunting this September, so I'll be able to check out the areas before I come back at the end of October.

 

[dylanvb]

pre season scouting helps but also don't be afraid if their aren't animals in that area yet. You could be in their migration route and they could just pass through an area to get to summer/winter feeding areas.

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

Topographic maps are your friend when it comes to scouting heavily timbered country. Start looking for benches and saddles in mid-elevation, "transition" habitat. Cal Topo is a great tool for e-scouting like this.

I think you are on the right track with your willingness to still hunt.

 

[Johnboy11]

Stick with it, doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything different than my group. Sometimes it’s just bad luck and they’ve moved on from that area already.

 

[cnelk]

I prefer hunting timber.
I don’t carry binos.

 

[Bugger]

Luckily elk leave sign everywhere they’ve been. Hike in the timber to find beds and poop. If you bump elk, you’ll know it, they’re loud. Timber doesn’t have a lot of grazing grasses so you need to sit back and watch the edges of a lot of timber real estate in the dim hours to see where they are hiding out and heading to at night.