Colorado OTC Archery Elk

[ElDiablito]

The latest on this. Things may be moving in the tight direction.

CPW Staff changed it's recommendation, they now support archery OTC for residents

Congrats Residents Hunters on your efforts. We are not done yet, see 5.31.24 CPW Memo released " Staff have come to a new recommendation, which is to limit OTC archery licenses for nonresidents only, and to maintain OTC archery licenses for residents."...

www.change.org

 

[Silverback]

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.

Hey friend - I’m looking at a bear canister mandated area for my first elk hunt this year. I’m still trying to figure everything out - in the off chance I actually tag out, do you do anything different with the meat you leave while you’re packing out to prevent bears from getting at it?

 

[3forks]

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.

I’ve seen this guy post about this story/spot numerous times on this site and others. I know exactly where that spot is and have driven past it in the middle of archery season several times in the years since he posted.

That spot now is a zoo. I’m not exaggerating when I say there are hunters in that drainage constantly and camps every where possible on the pull offs above that area.

I’m certain the guy who posted about this spot would not have the same experience if he went back to it now. I’m also certain that his pics and description of the spot led to it becoming blown out.