Colorado OTC Archery Elk: Locating Wilderness GMU's ??

[recurvehunt]

Planning an archery elk hunt utilizing OTC Tags in Colorado, and have done a fair amount of studying on the CPW site and the various resources it has there, but haven't been able to locate a concise list of GMU's that are predominantly/include wilderness areas.

Have bookmarked the OTC Map http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Maps/OTCEitherSexElkArchery.pdf

But figure there must be a better way of determining which of these are wilderness besides just brute force google'ing

Any help is appreciated, and hopefully I haven't missed something obvious...

 

[MuleyFever]

Download a wilderness KML (or is it KMZ) file for google earth. Download another for the GMUs.

 

[recurvehunt]

Nice..haven't done it for google earth just yet, but a quick google search on that and a hit on caltopo site shows me what your referring too.

Also, so i dont get caught assuming, is it true that the walk-in only areas ( atv's, trucks, etc being banned) are only found in the wilderness areas? Or do some GMUs impart similar travel by foot only rules even if it isn't in Wilderness?

 

[recurvehunt]

Was able to locate the Wilderness KMZ file for Colorado, as you suggested. Here is one option for any others looking: Wilderness.net - U.S. National Wilderness Preservation System Map

 

[recurvehunt]

Also was able to overlay the Colorado GMU KMZ file, but cant seem to filter on OTC.

Anyone know a way to only show, on google earth layers, the GMU's that are OTC? Or perhaps an OTC specific file to download?

 

[elkduds]

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Atlas

Dark green is Designated Wilderness.

Click Motorized Vehicle Use Map in lefthand column to find road access to wilderness trailheads.

 

[cnelk]

Toprut is your friend

 

[ShakeDown]

If you have OnX you can layer GMUs and Wilderness.

 

[maninthemaze]

X2 on toprut.com

Unit Maps - Toprut

They'll email you the file which will overlay onto Google Earth. It has a ton of features. And it's free.

Just my 2 cents and worth the price charged.

 

[recurvehunt]

Thanks guys...yall have definitely given me more homework to do, will look into toprut. Thanks

Referencing an earlier question up top...is my assumption correct in that the wilderness areas are the ONLY areas that are banning motorized vehicles and allowing access via walking(or horseback of course)? Or are there non-wilderness areas / GMU's with similar bans on motorized vehicles, perhaps for other reasons...

 

[mvmnts]

I'm not sure on that, but what I can say is that the Avenza Maps app for android (maybe for iOS too?) has a great "map store" built into the app that has all of the Colorado MVUMs listed for free. You can download a copy to your phone for offline use, they're geoPDFs that you will use your phone's GPS to mark you location. It was super handy for my season last year.

 

[elkduds]

Thanks guys...yall have definitely given me more homework to do, will look into toprut. Thanks

Referencing an earlier question up top...is my assumption correct in that the wilderness areas are the ONLY areas that are banning motorized vehicles and allowing access via walking(or horseback of course)? Or are there non-wilderness areas / GMU's with similar bans on motorized vehicles, perhaps for other reasons...

Motorized Vehicle Use (MVUM) maps/overlays show all legal motorized access areas on USFS lands. There are many areas of Nat'l forest in CO that do not have roads or motorized trails into them. If MVUM shows no roads or motorized trails in the area between Forest Road (FR) 123 and FR 456, then that is a nonmotorized area. There may be lawbreakers driving or riding machines in those areas illegally.

 

[Beendare]

Thanks guys...yall have definitely given me more homework to do, will look into toprut. Thanks

Referencing an earlier question up top...is my assumption correct in that the wilderness areas are the ONLY areas that are banning motorized vehicles and allowing access via walking(or horseback of course)? Or are there non-wilderness areas / GMU's with similar bans on motorized vehicles, perhaps for other reasons...

No...plenty of other areas.

BTW, you do know that those Wilderness areas are a magnet for out of state hunters, right? You still need to cover ground to find those out of the way places.

 

[Hall256]

Toprut is your friend

Have never seen this before, it looks pretty awesome.

 

[maninthemaze]

If you call the National Forest that you're considering hunting, they will mail you the Motorized Vehicle Use Maps for free. You can also do like I did and call all of the NF's in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming and ask for them all. I like free stuff. I've got stacks of them on my table at home.

Just my 2 cents and worth the price charged.

 

[recurvehunt]

If you call the National Forest that you're considering hunting, they will mail you the Motorized Vehicle Use Maps for free. You can also do like I did and call all of the NF's in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming and ask for them all. I like free stuff. I've got stacks of them on my table at home.

Just my 2 cents and worth the price charged.

I like how you think....only go through here once so might as well get it all. Thats a good idea...i still like paper maps too. Thanks, will do this soon.

 

[Beendare]

I'm a map guy too...and those motor vehicle use maps would be great....if folks followed the rules. FYI, they don't. My advice; use the MMM's as a starting point. Heck the one spot we were in the Castles in Mt last year the closed road [behind locked gates even] looked like an effing highway.

i like GE better...especially the tilt tool. Fly those areas until it feel like you know it. If you can get locations of outfitter camps from the FS- thats great info. ...they don't like to give that out sometimes.

i think a guy is best served by picking a couple spots, lacing up his boots and getting in there covering ground on foot. Yeah, its more work....but its sometimes the only way you can assess what is going on. Instead of tippy toeing around in one small area...cover a lot of country.

 

[cnelk]

Tip when using GE [even with the GE Toprut overlays]

If you hover your cursor in the lower task bar, it will give you the imagery date.
As you glide around, zoom in and out, you can see vehicles parked and when...
Especially helpful if the imagery date was taken during hunting season


Good luck

 

[sodaksooner]

We hunt a lot of roadless areas in CO that aren't wilderness and are OTC.. Not telling where though....lol. Have gotten into good elk in all of them at one time or another.

FYI...NATGEO maps are great and include the GMU boundaries as well as motorized and hiking trails.

 

[swampokie]

Toprut is your friend

Toprut can be ur worst enemy if you've done years of research on units that had low tag quotas and high draw odds if you put in by urself. All these hunts have doublr the apps now that toprut has became everyones friend!! Very helpful for people without time to do theirhome work! HUNT HARD!!!