Colorado unit 2 Elk.

[seaston1989]

Very new to this site. I live in western wa and mainly focus here for elk and deer. I do travel yearly to Idaho for whitetail and Colorado when drawn. This year my grandfather drew unit 2 Colorado for elk. We were there last year for antelope and killed 2 very nice animals. We have a really good starting point I believe on where to focus. We seen some decent bulls during the goat season. We did see a lot of elk but the quality was not what we thought. We might have seen a 350 bull one evening but we were pushing it hard to get him there. We will be staying in baggs, Wyoming for this hunt. Any info would be appreciated. Grandpa is 83 this year and is still
Mobil and moving around well. He had 32 points going into the draw.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Yeah a 300+ bull is a stud in any unit in Co. would never pass a 350 in unit 2, that is top end quality almost anywhere in Co. good luck to your grandpa, hope he can get it, be sure to give a write up with pictures after

 

[seaston1989]

Appreciate the response. He is a stubborn old man. And I mean stubborn lol he has killed a few 350+ bulls over the years and he keeps saying he won’t pull the trigger on anything less. I guess my
Question to those that know the area, a 350 bull
Is attainable. We will be over there mid September staying and scouting into the season in October.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Appreciate the response. He is a stubborn old man. And I mean stubborn lol he has killed a few 350+ bulls over the years and he keeps saying he won’t pull the trigger on anything less. I guess my
Question to those that know the area, a 350 bull
Is attainable. We will be over there mid September staying and scouting into the season in October.

Honestly scouting for 3 weeks pre season you will have better, more accurate, and up to date information than you will get from 99.9% of the guys on this site. Sounds like you have a solid plan, I’m sure you will turn up something you like in that time frame

 

[Jaquomo]

Well, my partner and I cammed all summer and scouted several times, and between the end of June and when we shot our bulls we didn't see or cam a bull bigger than an honest 330. We shot the two biggest bulls we saw (hunting with recurves) and mine grossed 353 and my partner's 364.. This was out of approximately 60 different bulls. Before those two bulls showed up, we had set our goal at 330, because that's what we were seeing.

There are bigger bulls, of course, but since the big herd reduction in that DAU, quality is down along with overall numbers. Assuming he will be rifle hunting, he will be looking at a lot of bulls that are broken up. Sounds like he knows what a big bull looks like. Go have a good experience.

 

[seaston1989]

We do have a solid plan going into this hunt. But we have only hit the northern most area of the unit antelope hunting. Up around lookout mtn. We did take a drive one day during the rain around highway 318 and there was some good looking country. We will figure it out for sure.

 

[seaston1989]

Well, my partner and I cammed all summer and scouted several times, and between the end of June and when we shot our bulls we didn't see or cam a bull bigger than an honest 330. We shot the two biggest bulls we saw (hunting with recurves) and mine grossed 353 and my partner's 364.. This was out of approximately 60 different bulls. Before those two bulls showed up, we had set our goal at 330, because that's what we were seeing.

There are bigger bulls, of course, but since the big herd reduction in that DAU, quality is down along with overall numbers. Assuming he will be rifle hunting, he will be looking at a lot of bulls that are broken up. Sounds like he knows what a big bull looks like. Go have a good experience.

310-330 is what we were seeing daily. And many smaller. Sounds like you guys did very well especially with recurves! Congrats that’s pretty amazing!!

 

[Wheels]

I’ll pm you.

 

[seaston1989]

I’ll pm you.

Thanks wheels!

 

[Jaquomo]

Thanks! That's about right. IMO, many guys who hunt over there after hunting ordinary places really overestimate bulls they see there. We had killed and measured a lot of bulls so we had a pretty good idea, but there really isn't that much difference between 320 and 350 if you start adding a couple inches here and there, especially to guys not around big bulls before.

A friend watched a bull all during the last part of the archery season, ready for rifle opening day. He estimated him at upper 380s, and he knows big bulls. Found him on day two and he had two big points broken off. He let him live.

 

[seaston1989]

I can understand how guys overestimate bulls. Easy to do. And I’m no professional by any means. Last year when we were there we seen so many respectable bulls but they were all broken especially down low.

For some reason grandpa waited 32 years for this hunt. He has hunted some of the best units in Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho etc but wanted this one for some reason lol. We will just head there and have fun and we will make the most of it with the fam.

 

[intunegp]

I can understand how guys overestimate bulls. Easy to do. And I’m no professional by any means. Last year when we were there we seen so many respectable bulls but they were all broken especially down low.

For some reason grandpa waited 32 years for this hunt. He has hunted some of the best units in Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho etc but wanted this one for some reason lol. We will just head there and have fun and we will make the most of it with the fam.

The "some reason" he waited is those preference points. In 2021, a nonresident had a 33% chance of drawing Unit 2 if they had 29 points.