Colorado OTC Archery Elk

[Hnthrdr]

I love hunting bears, but killing one during an elk hunt is way down the list. I’ve passed tons of them over the years as I simply don’t want to deal with them.

I keep my food in my tent, or in the shade next to it. I’ve never had an issue.

I agree which is why it’s hard to want to hunt bears during Sept… although I might burn my 8 bear points and focus on them this year… I have never done it and it could be fun…

 

[westonhoma]

Pay to play is already here, so over the next 5 - 10 it will just get worse.
20 years from now, between further wussification of society and habitat fragmentation, there won't be hunting on public land in the lower 48. Govt will cull as needed without including public. Hunting will 100% be reserved for people with private land, and people who are either friends of landowners or people with $$......$50K for a ranch elk hunt.

Hard to argue this.. Gonna start inventing the next billion dollar gadget then now. I also start scoping out that ranch in Wyoming on zilllow as we speak. Ill give fellow roksliders a discount on landowner tags dont worry

 

[tracker12]

I don’t like it that I am old but grateful that I was able to hunt Colorado OTC for many years in the 80s, 90’s and early 2000’s.

 

[DeerCatcherUT/CO]

Why is OTC hunting dead? Because it isn’t as easy as it used to be for locals?

I keep reading this and find it hard to believe after my only Colorado DIY OTC archery hunt in 2019.

My son and I drove 36 hours straight from the NJ shore. We left home the Wednesday before the 2019 opener and got to our camp the next afternoon about 4:30. Within 15 minutes of getting there we had 3 bulls bugling on the next ridge from us. I had never elk hunted before but that was my first spot picked to check and we didn’t even have to scout it to know there were elk.

The next day we bought our licenses and found a route to get us where the elk were the night before. We had to drop 1000 feet in less than 1/3 a mile into a drainage and found an elk trail working up the other side of the stream to where we heard the elk. We backed out and checked out my number 2-4 spots and found sign in two of them.

The opener we dropped into the drainage we had the elk calling the previous two days but didn’t leave camp until the sun was starting to come up do to the fact there was a ton of blow downs and head high and taller ferns with a 20-40 foot cliff along the way we needed to get to the bottom. As we were climbing down we heard a bugle farther down the drainage and we followed it instead of going where we planned. We ended up getting cliffed out turned back and at the original creek crossing we stopped to have lunch.

While eating we see a successful hunter with a quarter of a cow on his back. He sees us and when he gets close he says” Oh shit your not my friends”. I congratulate him and we started talking. He then tells me he has hunted this drainage for 10 years and never seen another person there other than his buddies he was waiting on. He then asks where else we planned on hunting since they will be packing out his elk from where we planned on going. I show him the top 5 places I planned on a topo map and he told me “ if any out of towners deserve to get an elk it’s the two of you”. He then told me he had killed elk in 4 of the five spots I showed him. He showed me easier access areas to get to two of the spots. We congratulated him again, thanked him for the info and left when his buddies got there.

That afternoon we went to my number two spot and found fresh sign but no Elk. The next day we checked out my third spot in the morning and saw no sign so left early and went to another spot. There we ran into 3 guys from Michigan in the parking pull off. One had been coming for 5 years and the other two for 3. In that time they said they had never seen or heard an elk. We went to where the guy we met on the opener said would be an easier access to an area I showed him on the map. We found sign and made plans to come back in the morning.

The next morning as I am putting on my pack I throw my back out and need my son to get the pack off me. We drive into town and get some breakfast. While eating I feel my back loosen up and feel we can hunt that afternoon. We end up going to an area that is less steep than we had been with a big park and multiple water holes on the other side. We find one that clearly has had elk coming to it and we sit covering two fingers of timber about 50 yards apart coming from the ridge top to the water. About 11:45 we hear a cow call and a rock rolling down the hill. Then about 30 seconds later we have a cow up the hill about 80 yards. Unfortunately the steady wind that has blown parallel to the base of the ridge swirled and blew uphill to the elk. She takes off over the ridge. We work our way down wind and go up the mountain and find a ton of well used trails a couple hundred yards from the top. We don’t see or hear anything so decide to go back to the watering hole for the last two hours of light. We jump two big mulies about 80 yards from where we sat earlier and saw another in the other side of the meadow but no more elk.

The next day we planned on going back to where the guy was successful. Unfortunately I couldn’t wake my son. I was mad and almost left him. I am glad I didn’t. He woke up with altitude sickness. We went down to town 2000 feet lower. I made him drink two quarts of Gatorade and tried to get him to eat but he wouldn’t. After 4 hours he wasn’t feeling any better so I made the decision of cutting the hunt 5 days short.

My son was upset he “ruined my hunt”. I told he we accomplished everything we could have except actually killing an elk in 3 days. We had elk bugle, we had elk respond to my calling, we were price that my plan could have been successful by the local getting his cow exactly where we originally planned and then almost having an opportunity. That’s something most never accomplish in there first hunt and we did that essentially in a long weekend. I am confident given more time and a little luck we can be successful in what I have read here is some of the most heavily hunted units in Colorado.

Here is a pic of my son 15 minutes after getting there pointing to the next ridge when we first heard the elk bugling.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool story bro. Should have divided into chapters

 

[Hnthrdr]

Cool story bro. Should have divided into chapters

Didn’t read… so he did or didn’t tag out?

 

[DeerCatcherUT/CO]

Didn’t read… so he did or didn’t tag out?

I don’t think so. I quit reading after the 9th paragraph (chapter 6)

 

[FlatlandGrunt]

So what are everyone's thoughts concerning the recent developments with CPW basically saying that OTC archery is likely gone next season (2025) but OTC rifle is likely to continue unchanged?

It seems counterintuitive based on what I've seen. Hunting 43 during OTC rifle vs OTC archery was a night and day difference. 25 hunting groups at the first trailhead for 2nd rifle vs 0 besides us for archery. Got pushed off that mountain due to weather (3ft of snow in 2022 rifle, nasty thunderstorms 2024 archery). Shifted to secondary areas both years. 15-20 different groups during rifle, a total of 17 trucks over 7 miles of forest service road during archery/muzzle loader (13 CO plates, 4 out of staters like me).

I know it's purely local and anecdotal, but it seems like overcrowding was far worse during OTC 2nd rifle. During archery, it didn't seem crowded at all, even with the folks there for muzzle loader, and if the area was "overcrowded" it was primarily residents in that area.

Just curious for other people's perspectives on the recent proposals.

 

[cnelk]

Most recent CPW chatter is they will get rid of OTC rifle - along with OTC Archery

 

[crich]

Most recent CPW chatter is they will get rid of OTC rifle - along with OTC Archery

That type of decision made in a vacuum is a dangerous one. That would undoubtedly affect other states in a huge way.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Don’t worry I’m sure the influencers will have all sorts of strategies to get tags every year… like and subscribe honestly as a Co native it’s tough to think we might not get to hunt our backyards in every year, it’s a big deal though, CO was the fall back plan for elk hunting

 

[Mcribs]

Most recent CPW chatter is they will get rid of OTC rifle - along with OTC Archery

Where’s the chatter from?

 

[FlatlandGrunt]

Most recent CPW chatter is they will get rid of OTC rifle - along with OTC Archery

Interesting. I've been following this pretty closely and had read that CPW was specifically recommending an end to OTC archery but no change to rifle.

I don't mind the idea of having to put in for a lottery (in CO or anywhere else), but OTC has always been a great way for my hunting buddy or my brother to get tags last minute if they want to come with (having kids and crazy work schedules tend to keep things up in the air for them).

It'll suck for them to not have a 100% chance to chase elk every year if their schedules allow, but it is.

 

[cnelk]

Here is Day 2 of the last Commission Meeting.

Some good public presentations and there is the chatter about limiting rifle in the future - watch the first half

 

[Mcribs]

Here is Day 2 of the last Commission Meeting.

Some good public presentations and there is the chatter about limiting rifle in the future - watch the first half

Thanks for the link

 

[FlatlandGrunt]

Here is Day 2 of the last Commission Meeting.

Some good public presentations and there is the chatter about limiting rifle in the future - watch the first half

You're a rockstar. For those who are time crunched, the OTC discussion is around 2hr and 40min in.

Thanks again!

 

[FlatlandGrunt]

Related question: yall backpack hunters in Colorado OTC units where bear canisters are required, what are you packing in?

I've hunted in bear canister mandate areas the last 3 years. It sucks because it's an extra 2lbs and bulky as hell, but I take a BearVault bv500 for a 7 day archery hunt. I've never seen a bear, but I have seen Rangers 2 of the 3 years.

I completely agree that it's probably unnecessary if you're not an idiot and definitely a pain in the ass, but I'm cheap and don't like paying fines. I just pack my food like normal, then hang the canister from my pack until I get to camp.

 

[CMS829]

I prefer to rifle hunt, but a couple years ago I picked up a muzzleloader cow tag in an OTC archery unit. What a freaking zoo! I would never waste the NR fees on a tag in an OTC archery unit again.

OTC hunting is dead thanks to the Hunting Marketing Machine and everyone (especially our Game and Parks agencies) needs to come to terms with that.

Just out of curiosity, what unit where you in that muzzy season?

 

[The_Jim]

Just out of curiosity, what unit where you in that muzzy season?

I won’t mention the unit number on an open forum out of respect for the guys that do hunt that unit.

 

[txpanhandle88]

Depends on the unit, but people expect OTC to be easy. Gotta put in the work and miles .

 

[wapitispokes]

Why is OTC hunting dead? Because it isn’t as easy as it used to be for locals?

I keep reading this and find it hard to believe after my only Colorado DIY OTC archery hunt in 2019.

My son and I drove 36 hours straight from the NJ shore. We left home the Wednesday before the 2019 opener and got to our camp the next afternoon about 4:30. Within 15 minutes of getting there we had 3 bulls bugling on the next ridge from us. I had never elk hunted before but that was my first spot picked to check and we didn’t even have to scout it to know there were elk.

The next day we bought our licenses and found a route to get us where the elk were the night before. We had to drop 1000 feet in less than 1/3 a mile into a drainage and found an elk trail working up the other side of the stream to where we heard the elk. We backed out and checked out my number 2-4 spots and found sign in two of them.

The opener we dropped into the drainage we had the elk calling the previous two days but didn’t leave camp until the sun was starting to come up do to the fact there was a ton of blow downs and head high and taller ferns with a 20-40 foot cliff along the way we needed to get to the bottom. As we were climbing down we heard a bugle farther down the drainage and we followed it instead of going where we planned. We ended up getting cliffed out turned back and at the original creek crossing we stopped to have lunch.

While eating we see a successful hunter with a quarter of a cow on his back. He sees us and when he gets close he says” Oh shit your not my friends”. I congratulate him and we started talking. He then tells me he has hunted this drainage for 10 years and never seen another person there other than his buddies he was waiting on. He then asks where else we planned on hunting since they will be packing out his elk from where we planned on going. I show him the top 5 places I planned on a topo map and he told me “ if any out of towners deserve to get an elk it’s the two of you”. He then told me he had killed elk in 4 of the five spots I showed him. He showed me easier access areas to get to two of the spots. We congratulated him again, thanked him for the info and left when his buddies got there.

That afternoon we went to my number two spot and found fresh sign but no Elk. The next day we checked out my third spot in the morning and saw no sign so left early and went to another spot. There we ran into 3 guys from Michigan in the parking pull off. One had been coming for 5 years and the other two for 3. In that time they said they had never seen or heard an elk. We went to where the guy we met on the opener said would be an easier access to an area I showed him on the map. We found sign and made plans to come back in the morning.

The next morning as I am putting on my pack I throw my back out and need my son to get the pack off me. We drive into town and get some breakfast. While eating I feel my back loosen up and feel we can hunt that afternoon. We end up going to an area that is less steep than we had been with a big park and multiple water holes on the other side. We find one that clearly has had elk coming to it and we sit covering two fingers of timber about 50 yards apart coming from the ridge top to the water. About 11:45 we hear a cow call and a rock rolling down the hill. Then about 30 seconds later we have a cow up the hill about 80 yards. Unfortunately the steady wind that has blown parallel to the base of the ridge swirled and blew uphill to the elk. She takes off over the ridge. We work our way down wind and go up the mountain and find a ton of well used trails a couple hundred yards from the top. We don’t see or hear anything so decide to go back to the watering hole for the last two hours of light. We jump two big mulies about 80 yards from where we sat earlier and saw another in the other side of the meadow but no more elk.

The next day we planned on going back to where the guy was successful. Unfortunately I couldn’t wake my son. I was mad and almost left him. I am glad I didn’t. He woke up with altitude sickness. We went down to town 2000 feet lower. I made him drink two quarts of Gatorade and tried to get him to eat but he wouldn’t. After 4 hours he wasn’t feeling any better so I made the decision of cutting the hunt 5 days short.

My son was upset he “ruined my hunt”. I told he we accomplished everything we could have except actually killing an elk in 3 days. We had elk bugle, we had elk respond to my calling, we were price that my plan could have been successful by the local getting his cow exactly where we originally planned and then almost having an opportunity. That’s something most never accomplish in there first hunt and we did that essentially in a long weekend. I am confident given more time and a little luck we can be successful in what I have read here is some of the most heavily hunted units in Colorado.

Here is a pic of my son 15 minutes after getting there pointing to the next ridge when we first heard the elk bugling.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know this is a bit stale, but I don't understand your point. Sorry, maybe I didn't read it carefully enough, but I don't understand. If you point is that you did one first ever elk hunt without scouting and got lucky, then I will with all candor say "good for you". But that is not the norm.

I've been hunting a spot in a wilderness area that "used" to be like that. Ive been hunting it for over 30 years. It has become a progressively worse zoo over the last ten years. Had one legit bull bugle last year when it was running away. We saw ZERO elk. The prior year was similar, but one of my buddies did get into one small herd on his 3rd day during a heavy rainstorm. That was it. For a combined roughly 3 weeks of a two person team hunting. And we know the area like the back of our hand. In the last 3 years we have seen almost zero elk. We know how to find them. We know how to smell them. We know how to see fresh sign. They WERE NOT THERE. Spoke with the local biologists and their consistent answer is that the "pressure" from "all users" is pushing them to private land.

Here are two examples and I kid you not: A young man backpacked in about 6 miles with hisGF or wife. We saw him come by our camp with the lady walking 50 yards behind him while he bugled every 2 minutes off the trail. This seems to be the new normal. Then we saw 3 guys backpack hunting in a very remote area where we have never seen a soul (that doesn't mean nobody has been there, of course other have, but usage was so sparse and access so difficult, we never saw a person or fresh sign. Maybe a 30 year shell casing here or there...). Lord help them if they put an elk down there without pack animals.

Backpack hunters all over the place and shockingly leaving melted freeze dried containers in fire rings. As a 50+ year backpacker / wilderness traveler / Boy Scout I never thought it would be the backpackers making the biggest mess. And yes, I am, or was a backpack hunter (been mostly using llamas since WAY before Randy Newberg got into that game).

So, what is my conclusion? Well, I strongly suspect that part of the "problem" is that technology has made archery elk hunting much easier. That combined with all the YouTube channels (usually with really big strong younger guys) explaining how easy it is to hike "way back in", kill an elk, and carry it out. Seriously, if you can drop $5,000 on really good, lightweight equipment, you can do a backpack hunting loop sufficient safety equipment and have a total weight (excluding weapon) of under 30 lbs. A lot under in some circumstances esp. since most guys probably don't carry what I consider to be "sufficient safety equipment". And frankly, you could get most of the way there for about $2,000.

The last time we did a multi-day cross country "LURP" patrol out of basecamp at 10,000 to 12,000 feet elevation, I'm sure my pack weighed over 50 lbs. (This was probably about 20 years ago when I was in my mid-40's). It's not easy moving around cross country at high elevation, over passes, steep chutes, scree slopes above steep drop offs (one spot still scares me when I think back about it...). Actually hunting carrying that much weight is hard. I got by because I live in WA state and had been glacier climbing and training in the mountains for nine months, ascending Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, and doing regular hard heavy mountain climbs several times per week.

These days it is much easier to go backpack elk hunting.

Sure, we also have population growth and the social changes with Covid. But I think the real change is technology - gear weight and performance and social media. And it isn't going to change.