Hey everyone! I am new to this whole elk hunting thing being from Texas. Me and a couple buddies are planning on putting in for draw tags for the 1st rifle season in unit 65 (given the higher odds of drawing with no points and decent success rate) and backpacking in for the hunt. I have done my fair share of research over the past couple of months but was curious to get some real life feedback from people that have experience in this area or unit.
For starters, from the google earth and research I have done, I have concluded that this unit is very steep and rugged terrain and we are going to have to get into these areas to increase our success. We are all on board and committed to this approach. We are all in our low 20s, pretty good shape, and have already started conditioning and doing small trial runs but obviously are limited to extreme elevation change here in Texas. We are heading up in May for about a week to get our feet wet and possibly do some shed hunting to get familiar with the unit so we arent coming in blind. So hopefully we wont be too caught off guard when it actually comes to what to expect in October. We have a couple spots of interest in the unit but I know there is a lot of terrain to hunt. I am not looking to get anyone honey holes but rather anyone willing to shed some insight from their experience in this area. Originally, we were set on hunting the drainage's south of silver jack and possibly the high mesa area based on elk movement patterns and migration routes I stumbled upon. But recently I have drawn interest into the area west of Ouray, as I feel it may be less pressured and be able to snag a bull coming off of the private ranches located around the area. I may be completely wrong on this approach which leads me to posting this. Am I on the right track with thinking this way? From what I have gathered, it seems it is hit or miss on how pressured the units are from year to year so I may be asking a non-answerable question.
None the less, hopefully we can draw tags and hopefully come out with our first bulls! Any insight or tips just in general to elk hunting for someone new to it like myself that I may not be considering would be much appreciated!! Thanks!
For starters, from the google earth and research I have done, I have concluded that this unit is very steep and rugged terrain and we are going to have to get into these areas to increase our success. We are all on board and committed to this approach. We are all in our low 20s, pretty good shape, and have already started conditioning and doing small trial runs but obviously are limited to extreme elevation change here in Texas. We are heading up in May for about a week to get our feet wet and possibly do some shed hunting to get familiar with the unit so we arent coming in blind. So hopefully we wont be too caught off guard when it actually comes to what to expect in October. We have a couple spots of interest in the unit but I know there is a lot of terrain to hunt. I am not looking to get anyone honey holes but rather anyone willing to shed some insight from their experience in this area. Originally, we were set on hunting the drainage's south of silver jack and possibly the high mesa area based on elk movement patterns and migration routes I stumbled upon. But recently I have drawn interest into the area west of Ouray, as I feel it may be less pressured and be able to snag a bull coming off of the private ranches located around the area. I may be completely wrong on this approach which leads me to posting this. Am I on the right track with thinking this way? From what I have gathered, it seems it is hit or miss on how pressured the units are from year to year so I may be asking a non-answerable question.
None the less, hopefully we can draw tags and hopefully come out with our first bulls! Any insight or tips just in general to elk hunting for someone new to it like myself that I may not be considering would be much appreciated!! Thanks!
