Durango Elk

[DW83]

If you want to see some elk this time of year, just head out hwy 160 to Pagosa Springs during the last 2 hours of daylight. Once you transition from sagebrush and rabbit grass to green river valley, you’ll see more elk than you can count. Lots of turkeys, too. All on private land.

This is the kind of intel we’re all looking for. Now let me just call CPW and see if there are any of them leftover “Non-Resident Spring Elk” Tags available.

 

[Tobe_B]

You’re gonna need to change the name of your topic from Durango Elk to Pagosa Elk. Need to keep all intel consistent and concise for the google hunter.


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[Poser]

You’re gonna need to change the name of your topic from Durango Elk to Pagosa Elk. Need to keep all intel consistent and concise for the google hunter.


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Google hunter need look no further than http://www.huntatkeyahgrande.com/

They boost a private airstrip so you can fly in to shoot an elk in the 2,000 acre “game reserve” that contains some of the “world’s largest elk”

 

[Tobe_B]

Google hunter need look no further than http://www.huntatkeyahgrande.com/

They boost a private airstrip so you can fly in to shoot an elk in the 2,000 acre “game reserve” that contains some of the “world’s largest elk”

Drive past there three to four times a week. Most days I can see all their elk in the pen from the highway. It’s a joke.

But I do see a lot of elk along 160.


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[Newtosavage]

Biggest bull elk I ever saw in the Durango area was coming up out of an irrigation ditch into an alfalfa field next to the highway during the 2nd week of Sept. So much for packing in at 10.5K LOL

 

[chasewild]

Biggest elk in CO are in Thorton. Yuuuuge bulls.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Drive past there three to four times a week. Most days I can see all their elk in the pen from the highway. It’s a joke.

But I do see a lot of elk along 160.


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Drove past that during the hail fest yesterday morning.
There was elk from Grande basically all the way to FairPlay visible from the road.
Elk got caught with their pants down during normal migration.
Did you guys attend the talk BHA held about migration between Durango and Pagosa? the Ute tribal biologist gave on the “off Rez/on Rez” migration corridor discussion. They are putting in one game overpasses and two underpasses just west of the Piedra.
Not cheap but the DOT, CPW, and tribe generated like 21 mil to get it done. Maybe it was more. Good work on all parts

 

[Tobe_B]

I didn’t attend that meeting. I am all for that idea. That stretch of highway from Yellow Jacket to Chimney Rock is harrowing in the winter months. See more dead elk on that stretch than anywhere else I’ve been in the state. Driving that highway with a trailer is the whole reason I put ranch-hand replacement bumpers in my trucks.


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[DW83]

Ended up making it to Durango today. Other than a few showers in the am, it was a great day to ride. Had a good lunch at Steamworks before making a trip to one of the areas I am considering. Saw a small herd of elk along the highway (now I just have to follow them for the next 4 months). Paid a visit to the CPW office as well as the USFS office to grab a few things. Staff at both places were more than helpful with this stupid nonresident.

 

[wesleyelee88]

I've had friends hunt the Pagosa area. Durango is beautiful though!

 

[Beendare]

Personally, I think scouting it pre season doesn't tell you much except to get a lay of the land in those heavily hunted OTC areas.

Its typical to find a good spot....then come hunt season there are 10 guys camped right in the middle of it.

Hunter pressure is the #1 factor...plan accordingly.

...

 

[@fulldraw]

Google hunter need look no further than http://www.huntatkeyahgrande.com/

They boost a private airstrip so you can fly in to shoot an elk in the 2,000 acre “game reserve” that contains some of the “world’s largest elk”

Per their website, the contact at Keyah Grande goes by "Gooch" ... that says all I need to know about that place: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gooch

 

[TexasCub]

Personally, I think scouting it pre season doesn't tell you much except to get a lay of the land in those heavily hunted OTC areas.

Its typical to find a good spot....then come hunt season there are 10 guys camped right in the middle of it.

Hunter pressure is the #1 factor...plan accordingly.

...

This is absolutely true! I drew a tag last year for muzzleloader season and I made 3 separate multi day trips into the unit to become familiar with it and even took an amazing pic of a 350+ bull during one of my scouting trips. However when I arrived the day before ML season opened the hoardes of bowhunters had invaded it. I had some meadows up high that had good elk sign in them and there were tents pitched in the friggin meadows. Hiked around for several days, never so much as heard or saw an elk, ran into and called in many bowhunters (most from out of state) and they all said the same thing, haven’t heard or seen a single elk. I ended up bailing out of the area I had invested so much time and effort into. That’s the sad part about scouting, it really doesn’t mean chit because other hunters are the biggest hurdle and there is no shortage of them here in CO and no way to predict how many will be in the area you intend to hunt. The worst part is I never saw a single person on any of my scout trips, that’s because they were all sitting at home in some other state e-scouting. There’s no way to prepare yourself for how many other hunters you’ll have to compete with.

 

[swampokie]

Don't forget us okies. Were just setting in front of the computer waiting on a good otc where at thread like this!!! otc Colorado is a shitshow to say the least and every year its worse because of "help" rendered on open threads.

 

[chasewild]

Don't forget us okies. Were just setting in front of the computer waiting on a good otc where at thread like this!!! otc Colorado is a shitshow to say the least and every year its worse because of "help" rendered on open threads.

I never thought I'd see an out-of-stater speak truer words!!!

 

[TexasCub]

otc Colorado is a shitshow to say the least and every year its worse

Pretty well sums it up. I couldn’t believe that so many guys I met after moving here only buy pref points for elk in Colorado and then go hunt in Montana or WY. The consensus was worded exactly like you summarized it above, “OTC is a complete shit show”. One year of the shit show was enough for me, I hired an outfitter this year in a hopes to minimize the shit show! Every day there’s a new post on this forum from an out of stater that is buying their very own ticket to the shit show!

 

[BrokenArrow]

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Commission/2019/May/Item.23-BIG_GAME_2020-24_PUBLIC_INVOLVEMENT_REPORT_FINAL.pdf

This pretty much sums it up.
We will tell stories one day about the golden years. Say goodbye to OTC as you know it.
Get ready for Archery to be your first choice in the next few years, no more building points.
Or it will be capped. Hopefully you can still get it through draw or leftover list for now?
Or, it seems that they will be capped and limited. That could be really interesting.

I am being pretty sarcastic with these comments, but there is some truth to them.
I am very curious what will happen with the final management plan

If populations suffer really badly down in the SW and CPW cuts as many tags as they did this year, then our region will be affected sooner from capped licenses. The question will be if CPW capps regionally in "blocks" or statewide.

 

[KHNC]

I cant wait til elk is "limited" in all of CO, that way i can start elk hunting there again someday! Dont have to worry about me in an OTC area ever again. I dont have enough elk hunting years left to waste any of them.

 

[Newtosavage]

and every year its worse because of "help" rendered on open threads.

I'd love to see the proof of this because it always sounds like tin foil hat paranoia to me.

Call OTC a "shit show" all you want, but I've enjoyed several years of hunting OTC units and aside from my very first year, have never had trouble getting into elk or finding remote opportunities if I wanted them. Feel free to stay home if you want but I look forward to heading to CO every fall now, for a variety of reasons, and don't have any plans to enter the draw or go anywhere else.

If CO decides it doesn't want my money for an elk tag, then I'll just hunt something else or go up and camp and fish.

 

[Still Hunter]

OTC gives a working man trying to make it, paying his bills and trying to get his kids through college an opportunity to experience Colorado. Not everyone can chunk out 6k/8k minimum on a hunt with guide. Have not been on a guided hunt yet where other hunters were not encountered . So enjoy your hunt, be polite and respectful to others. Hunting follows the same 80/20 rule. That 20% is doing all the hard work and having more success than the 80%, and even a blind hog finds a acorn some of the time. Good hunting guys!