Colorado Unit 80

[OR Archer]

Looking at this for a potential future hunt. Anyone archery hunt it? Beyond the stats I’ve looked at what’s the hunting pressure like in that area? Not worried about trophy potential. Just don’t want to go and find a hunter behind every tree. Thought?

 

[Ucsdryder]

No experience but when looking at archery hunts you have to be careful because a lot of units have early rifle deer, wilderness deer, bear, cow specific, muzzle loader deer, muzzle loader elk, muzzle loader bear tags. All of a sudden you’re surrounded by hunters. Nothing messes up a good September elk hunt faster than a guy shooting a rifle!

 

[Felix40]

There’s no shortage of tourists there either. Popular spot for out of staters to come and rent ATVs to ride around.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Busy before, but busier now that several neighboring units went limited for Archery this year. 80 and 81 are now likely stop #1 for anyone coming from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, etc.

 

[Traveler]

There’s not a hunter behind every tree but it’s close...

 

[Elkhntr08]

Every other tree.

 

[bowrunner81]

Every other tree is about right. Haha

 

[trophyhill]

I hunted it last year 80-81. First time since 2016. The pressure was unlike anything I’ve ever seen since I started bowhunting and elk hunting. It was bad. I don’t plan on going back so there will be 1 less person there next season. The total lack of respect and outright disrespect from hunters against fellow hunters was unprecedented. Never seen anything like it........

 

[Elkhntr08]

Was it elk hunters or start during deer season? Last time I was there, first couple weeks weren’t bad, then along came the deer hunters.

 

[OR Archer]

Well I will be crossing that unit off the list lol. Thanks for the feedback. This is the kind of stuff stats just can’t fully tell you.

 

[trophyhill]

Was it elk hunters or start during deer season? Last time I was there, first couple weeks weren’t bad, then along came the deer hunters.

The deer hunters would have no impact normally because they are draw. I’d say a good chunk of those guys likely had deer and elk tags. This year the first couple weeks were like the second couple weeks used to be, and the second couple weeks were ridiculous. I talked to one of the CPW officials in Monte Vista and there were record sales for otc elk tags this year.

The people hurt the most are the people who live there. It’s an economically depressed area and many locals rely on that meat. They are the real losers in all this.

I saw a few elk coming out in backs of trucks during rifle seasons but nowhere near what you’d think in a unit where the elk herd numbers are supposedly pretty high according to the CPW.

I do know that a lot of elk spent a lot more time on private than on public this year according to a couple landowners I’ve since talked too because of the human pressure/presence.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I hunted it last year 80-81. First time since 2016. The pressure was unlike anything I’ve ever seen since I started bowhunting and elk hunting. It was bad. I don’t plan on going back so there will be 1 less person there next season. The total lack of respect and outright disrespect from hunters against fellow hunters was unprecedented. Never seen anything like it........

Care to elaborate? it seems like you've got a good story or two.

I went into 81 the day after Archery season ended this year and saw messy campsites everywhere. One camp had left trash bags full of crap that said "Emergency Supplies from Friendly Hunters" on one of the bags. Inside were dirty pots and pans, empty jars and cans of food, a nearly empty bottle of whiskey, a crappy Coleman grill with several empty propane cylinders, food wrappers, and much of their other trash was incompletely burned in their fire, (wasn't there a fire ban during all of September)?

It was a sight you'd expect to see from a roadside camp but it was 8 or 9 miles into the Wilderness. I found several other trashy backcountry campsites over the course of the next 5 days and while its not certain, it's very likely they were all hunter camps given how recently used they were. It was an embarrassment to other hunters who actually clean up after themselves.

Linking my Post from a few months that has the photos of this mess... I'm still a little sore about taking time out of my fishing trip to clean someone else's camp and pack out a bunch of their trash. We found it on day 1 of our trip so I got to pack and repack someone else's garbage 4 or 5 times each time we made camp somewhere else.

Archery Season Aftermath

I Just got back from an extended backcountry trip in Colorado. My wife and I started on October 1st after the Archery and Muzzy seasons had ended and I have to say I was very disappointed in what we saw from several campsites, most of which were almost certainly recently used hunting camps. We...

www.rokslide.com

 

[trophyhill]

Care to elaborate? it seems like you've got a good story or two.

I went into 81 the day after Archery season ended this year and saw messy campsites everywhere. One camp had left trash bags full of crap that said "Emergency Supplies from Friendly Hunters" on one of the bags. Inside were dirty pots and pans, empty jars and cans of food, a nearly empty bottle of whiskey, a crappy Coleman grill with several empty propane cylinders, food wrappers, and much of their other trash was incompletely burned in their fire, (wasn't there a fire ban during all of September)?

It was a sight you'd expect to see from a roadside camp but it was 8 or 9 miles into the Wilderness. I found several other trashy backcountry campsites over the course of the next 5 days and while its not certain, it's very likely they were all hunter camps given how recently used they were. It was an embarrassment to other hunters who actually clean up after themselves.

Linking my Post from a few months that has the photos of this mess... I'm still a little sore about taking time out of my fishing trip to clean someone else's camp and pack out a bunch of their trash. We found it on day 1 of our trip so I got to pack and repack someone else's garbage 4 or 5 times each time we made camp somewhere else.

Archery Season Aftermath

I Just got back from an extended backcountry trip in Colorado. My wife and I started on October 1st after the Archery and Muzzy seasons had ended and I have to say I was very disappointed in what we saw from several campsites, most of which were almost certainly recently used hunting camps. We...

www.rokslide.com

Well where should I start? The beginning? I was supposed to start a building project near by the first part of September. Only it didn’t get started until the second week of October. So I got to be a very unsuccessful paid hunter for the month of September.

The reason for my “unsuccess” is/was totally on me. Stupid rookie mistakes. I had 2 opportunities to kill cows. Opening day I drew on a cow at 40 yards broadside and let down just knowing I’d have other opportunities. Mistake number 1 in a heavily pressured otc unit.

Cow number 2 I called off private. I actually called the whole herd off of private. I was set up on a side hill trail. Heavily used trail. The darn cow circled and got my wind. By the time I turned and noticed she was behind me at about 10 yards, it was too late.

I also managed to call in 2 bulls. They came in silent and I had no idea they were there until they smelled or saw me and ran off. Both of these bulls came in behind me as well. I swear elk hunters need eyes in the backs of their heads.

And got a response from 2 other bulls but the wind was bad so I backed out thinking I’d have another chance on another day. Another rookie mistake. Another day there were other hunters in the area and the elk had vacated from the pressure. Typically I don’t back out but decided I’d follow advice I’ve seen here and on the Bowsite. Then I remembered why I don’t back out when I find elk in pressured otc units.

So I had the opportunity to kill, it was my own fault that I didn’t. I cannot blame the pressure for me failing.

Typically in the past in 80-81 though, I could have multiple encounters or call ins daily. Yes daily. This time I had 6 encounters over the whole month of September. Typically I’d have 6 encounters in the first couple of days on previous hunts in 80-81.

The human presence was everywhere. I saw people everywhere I hunted or attempted to hunt accept those 6 encounters. To cover as much ground as I covered and only find 6 spots that did not have people was an experience in itself. The elk vacated those 6 areas pretty quick too. I’m sure they thought they found safety until I buggered them. It was obvious that these elk had already been pressured.

I just was not as prepared for or ready to deal with the amount of human presence and pressure. This has caused me to re evaluate how I will need to adapt for future otc hunts. In the past I was able to adapt and avoid human pressure thru plan A, B, C and D.

I’ve hunted 80-81 a half dozen times. There’s always been a fair amount of pressure. But again, I was able to avoid that pressure previously and find and kill elk.

We can blame it all on Covid if we want, but I don’t think it will get any better once Covid is out of the picture. Everyone wants that adventure and people are pouring out of the woodwork. Elk hunting has become glamorized by the different forms of media to the point that there is no such thing as hunting un pressured elk in a otc unit anymore. OnX, GoHunt and even Elktalk and Elk101 do not prepare the average hunter for what to really expect for pressure. You are not going to avoid it in an otc unit anymore.

The biggest downer for me was just knowing instead of an elk being behind every tree, there were hunters behind every tree.

For those of you who still hold on to a “secret spot”? I wouldn’t tell a soul and take it to the grave. Cuz it’s not like you are going to go scout another area and find another secret spot.

I’ve hiked into wilderness areas throughout the year over the years and picked up others trash. That always sucks. You never know if it was hikers, cowboys chasing cattle, deerhunter’s, elkhunter’s, bow hunters, muzzy hunters, rifle hunters or what, but my guess is I’ve probably picked up trash that belonged to all of the above plus some. The funny thing about picking up others trash is, I didn’t have to join a group like the BHA or NWF so I could pay someone to complain about it for me, I just do it because I am a hunter. And proof that hunters care.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Well where should I start? The beginning? I was supposed to start a building project near by the first part of September. Only it didn’t get started until the second week of October. So I got to be a very unsuccessful paid hunter for the month of September.

The reason for my “unsuccess” is/was totally on me. Stupid rookie mistakes. I had 2 opportunities to kill cows. Opening day I drew on a cow at 40 yards broadside and let down just knowing I’d have other opportunities. Mistake number 1 in a heavily pressured otc unit.

Cow number 2 I called off private. I actually called the whole herd off of private. I was set up on a side hill trail. Heavily used trail. The darn cow circled and got my wind. By the time I turned and noticed she was behind me at about 10 yards, it was too late.

I also managed to call in 2 bulls. They came in silent and I had no idea they were there until they smelled or saw me and ran off. Both of these bulls came in behind me as well. I swear elk hunters need eyes in the backs of their heads.

And got a response from 2 other bulls but the wind was bad so I backed out thinking I’d have another chance on another day. Another rookie mistake. Another day there were other hunters in the area and the elk had vacated from the pressure. Typically I don’t back out but decided I’d follow advice I’ve seen here and on the Bowsite. Then I remembered why I don’t back out when I find elk in pressured otc units.

So I had the opportunity to kill, it was my own fault that I didn’t. I cannot blame the pressure for me failing.

Typically in the past in 80-81 though, I could have multiple encounters or call ins daily. Yes daily. This time I had 6 encounters over the whole month of September. Typically I’d have 6 encounters in the first couple of days on previous hunts in 80-81.

The human presence was everywhere. I saw people everywhere I hunted or attempted to hunt accept those 6 encounters. To cover as much ground as I covered and only find 6 spots that did not have people was an experience in itself. The elk vacated those 6 areas pretty quick too. I’m sure they thought they found safety until I buggered them. It was obvious that these elk had already been pressured.

I just was not as prepared for or ready to deal with the amount of human presence and pressure. This has caused me to re evaluate how I will need to adapt for future otc hunts. In the past I was able to adapt and avoid human pressure thru plan A, B, C and D.

I’ve hunted 80-81 a half dozen times. There’s always been a fair amount of pressure. But again, I was able to avoid that pressure previously and find and kill elk.

We can blame it all on Covid if we want, but I don’t think it will get any better once Covid is out of the picture. Everyone wants that adventure and people are pouring out of the woodwork. Elk hunting has become glamorized by the different forms of media to the point that there is no such thing as hunting un pressured elk in a otc unit anymore. OnX, GoHunt and even Elktalk and Elk101 do not prepare the average hunter for what to really expect for pressure. You are not going to avoid it in an otc unit anymore.

The biggest downer for me was just knowing instead of an elk being behind every tree, there were hunters behind every tree.

For those of you who still hold on to a “secret spot”? I wouldn’t tell a soul and take it to the grave. Cuz it’s not like you are going to go scout another area and find another secret spot.

I’ve hiked into wilderness areas throughout the year over the years and picked up others trash. That always sucks. You never know if it was hikers, cowboys chasing cattle, deerhunter’s, elkhunter’s, bow hunters, muzzy hunters, rifle hunters or what, but my guess is I’ve probably picked up trash that belonged to all of the above plus some. The funny thing about picking up others trash is, I didn’t have to join a group like the BHA or NWF so I could pay someone to complain about it for me, I just do it because I am a hunter. And proof that hunters care.

The hunting experience you just described was about exactly how I imagined it must have been from what I saw.

Over the course of about a week I saw zero Elk, and that was covering over 40 miles. I wasn't hunting but I'm always on the lookout. It just seemed strange that I could cover that much ground in a Wilderness Area and not even have a distant sighting. Obviously there are Elk there but my guess is that they were pressured so much that they weren't coming out of the thick timber at all. There was one evening we heard a few bugles, but that was it.

 

[Dahide]

stay away from anywhere you can ride ATV on trails

 

[trophyhill]

stay away from anywhere you can ride ATV on trails

That didn’t make a difference this year. There aren’t a whole lot of designated atv trails in 80-81 anyways. Sure there are a few. And a fair share of forest roads, but if you stay off of those, then you’d be walking in from Monte Vista or Alamosa. You have to start somewhere. And like I said previously, no matter where you traveled, there was someone parked anywhere a person could park. So picking a spot to walk in from where you’d think you wouldn’t see another hunter was pretty futile.

I did my version of hybrid hunting. I hunted from my travel trailer on my ATV. I did a road side camp. I packed camp in on my back for over a week. So I had a great representation. I covered some serious ground. From the northern reaches all the way to the NM border. I heard they slayed em in Unit 52 NM where the pressure is limited btw. I covered more ground than most I’m sure and with the same result as others I talked to were experiencing regarding pressure.

Again I’m re evaluating how I need to hunt these heavily pressured units in the future. Not sure myself what that means just yet but something different is definitely needed.

 

[Staninator]

Well now that I read through this, I think I'm going to avoid 80 & 81...

 

[OR Archer]

Well these stories reflect the sharp decrease in Hunter harvest the last few years that I’ve seen in the stats.

 

[trophyhill]

Busy before, but busier now that several neighboring units went limited for Archery this year. 80 and 81 are now likely stop #1 for anyone coming from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, etc.

I talked to several groups in the rv park where I had my travel trailer that were planning on hunting those units where those fires were burning but went to 80-81 instead so between the fires, the covid and more hunters hitting the mountains for an elk hunt, it was pretty crowded.

I listened to one of the latest Elktalk podcasts with Newberg and Jacobson where they were talking about the perception of more nr hunters hunting ruining hunting in a few western states like Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and they may have mentioned Utah and Arizona.

Randy did some fact checking and the reality was that there has been a lot of immigration into the western states from other states. If 5 or 10 percent of those hunt, the numbers were in the tens of thousands now applying each year as residents in these states really upping the resident competition to draw tags, while in most states the number of nr hunters remained pretty constant due to caps placed on nr’s.

In all fairness though, they didn’t even mention Colorado where there is no cap on nr’s in otc units like 80-81. So either they’ve never hunted these types of units so they don’t understand the frustrations? Or that’s a podcast for another day.

 

[coelk81]

So reading all of these experiences makes me wonder about peoples perceptions. Not that I want more hunters in the area, but I have hunted 80/81 my whole life. Yep there are hunters, yep there are elk, and yep both units are pretty big. I did run into quite a few hunters this year......along the road. Every time I ventured away from the road I was on my own. I ran into multiple bulls before the snowstorm hit, if you hunted 80/81 this year you know about the snowstorm. And to be honest I took my daughter on her first muzzleloader elk hunt and was done in 30 min. I spoke with quite a few hunters as well gave some pointers and advice. Which is very unprecedented of me, as I avoid everyone like the plague during hunting season. I was a resident for 40 years, retired and I now hunt as a nonresident. I will continue to hunt the same units, hopefully I will hunt with a another Texan that I met the day after I arrowed a 5x6 bull. The perception is that the CPW sells tags for only the amount of elk that are in the state. When in reality you are paying for the opportunity to hunt elk not kill one. Killing one is a bonus and definitely not a guarantee. So CPW is making money off of selling opportunities to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity and people are upset about others chasing the same opportunity. So with that said listening to others perceptions of the hunt must be taken with a grain of salt. If they saw elk and said the hunt sucked that is their perception. Every hunter has to gain their own perspective of the where they hunt. Not everyone is a good person, not everyone is a bad person. Take from that what you will. I do not and will will not base my hunting plans on what others say, only use it as a guide. I think 80/81 are great units, others as stated here do not. I am rambling, but it pisses me off when people are chiding others for grabbing hold of the same opportunity and may or may not have the same ethics or morals as said hunter. I mean it is OTC, it is not like your burning a ton of points to hunt there. Just go and hunt, and prepared to move to another spot, area etc. NO ONE RUINS YOUR HUNT BUT YOU!!