Durango Elk

[DW83]

I'm early in the process of getting together an OTC archery hunt in Colorado. I’ve been looking hard at the units around Durango (mostly 75 and 751). On paper, they look good, there are definitely elk in the area. But the hunter success rate in those units is pretty low, in the single digits. Would anyone familiar with the area be able to provide some insight into why? Are the elk on private land? Too much hunting pressure? Thanks

 

[Poser]

Lot of folks will attribute that to a declining elk population across the entire San Juan region.
The nature of much of the terrain is another aspect as The San Juan’s boast the the most amount of terrain above 10,000 feet of any mountain range in the lower 48 and it can also be very, very rugged with elk often living in what you might consider to be goat terrain. Lots of OTC pressure, especially from Texas. Big rigs at trailheads, horse back hunters in the wilderness and a couple of outfitters, too. Plenty of defeat to go around.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Lot of folks will attribute that to a declining elk population across the entire San Juan region.
The nature of much of the terrain is another aspect as The San Juan’s boast the the most amount of terrain above 10,000 feet of any mountain range in the lower 48 and it can also be very, very rugged with elk often living in what you might consider to be goat terrain. Lots of OTC pressure, especially from Texas. Big rigs at trailheads, horse back hunters in the wilderness and a couple of outfitters, too. Plenty of defeat to go around.

Nough said there. I live at 9300’ and even had migrating elk in my yard this morning. I also have hunted and guided here since 2001.
Beautiful spot but So many folks these days. Literally 120% increase in archery hunters in the last 6 years. Actually a 20% decrease in rifle hunters. That’s from the CPW
Archery is getting weird out there.
I used to hunt archery here, awesome time of year to be in the woods. But I now actually enjoy draws in other states that manage for a quality horns experience with less hunters. I usually go with a 4th season cow hunt here and call it good.

My advice, get at least 4 miles from a road and be ready to hump some meat a ways. These elk hide in the steepest darkest thing you can find. Totally doable, there are elk out there, but the good old days are gone. Prepare to work or pay for a drop up vallecito or the los pinos.
Sorry, just an old man bitchin’

 

[DW83]

Thank you both for the replies, I certainly appreciate it. Decreasing elk numbers, increasing hunting pressure and steep nasty terrain seem to be a common trend I'm finding with OTC units. Maybe I'm just being naive, but I think I can at least work with the terrain, it's better than having all the elk holed up on private land where they can't be touched. I have identified several (maybe 3 or 4) areas where I'd like to scout before the season starts. I don't know if they're quite 4 miles, but probably pretty close. The biggest reason I'm hung up on the Durango area I that I have family no too far from there, and I'd likely be all to make a few trips between know and the season starting.

 

[Tobe_B]

To add to the good info from the other guys, you won’t find elk at only the upper elevations. They will be scattered throughout the entire unit. Don’t get hung up on thinking you’ve got to get higher and higher. Find areas that are less pressured and it will help your chances for success. That being said, I’ve bumped in to elk many times just by being patient and staying still. There are lots of hunters in the woods out here, the elk know that and know how to get around them. While hunting bear last fall I followed a bull along a ridge just keeping him in my sights to see where he would go. Found a herd of cows holed up in dark timber in a place I wouldn’t have thought elk would be. About 30 minutes later some guy walks by with his pack huffing and puffing to go help his buddy pack out a mule deer. He walked right past that bull while it watched him, saw the entire thing unfold right in front of me. Still laughing about today.


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[Poser]

FYI: it’s been a historic snow year so the high country won’t be very navigable until early July and I’d expect large snowfields on North facing aspects until September. For a frame of reference, Purgatory had 30 feet of snow and that’s below 10,000 feet.

 

[Jqualls]

To add to the good info from the other guys, you won’t find elk at only the upper elevations. They will be scattered throughout the entire unit. Don’t get hung up on thinking you’ve got to get higher and higher. Find areas that are less pressured and it will help your chances for success. That being said, I’ve bumped in to elk many times just by being patient and staying still. There are lots of hunters in the woods out here, the elk know that and know how to get around them. While hunting bear last fall I followed a bull along a ridge just keeping him in my sights to see where he would go. Found a herd of cows holed up in dark timber in a place I wouldn’t have thought elk would be. About 30 minutes later some guy walks by with his pack huffing and puffing to go help his buddy pack out a mule deer. He walked right past that bull while it watched him, saw the entire thing unfold right in front of me. Still laughing about today.


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I would bet most hunters walk by more elk then they see every year. It is amazing how well they blend in and how silent they can be. Had 4 cows and a bull sneak in behind me when I was taking a little break glassing down a valley last year. They walked to about 30 yards in the wide open hillside. I have something similar happen about every year. Sometimes it seems like they are just dropped out of the sky and then dissapeared into the woods like the baseball players in "Field of Dreams"

 

[DW83]

I’m up near Durango for the next few days and hopefully I’ll be able to break away and get some “scouting” in. I say “scouting” because honestly, I’m probably just going to ride my motorcycle and see how far up the roads I can get before snow turns me around.

Through GE I’ve found I think two solid areas I like and I’d like to find one or two more. One area isn’t too high, 10,000 ft max, but the other one is up there, 11,500 plus. One is wilderness and the other is not. Both are about 3-4 miles from a trailhead, which honestly is as far as Im willing or able to pack an elk anyway.

 

[DW83]

I would bet most hunters walk by more elk then they see every year. It is amazing how well they blend in and how silent they can be. Had 4 cows and a bull sneak in behind me when I was taking a little break glassing down a valley last year. They walked to about 30 yards in the wide open hillside. I have something similar happen about every year. Sometimes it seems like they are just dropped out of the sky and then dissapeared into the woods like the baseball players in "Field of Dreams"

The last time I went elk hunting was 2013 I think, with a Wyoming rifle cow tag. One day I saw what I thought may be an elk in some dark timber. I looked at it through my binoculars several times over a couple of minutes before determining it was a log. As soon as I put my binos away and started walking that log turned into 2 cows and a calf and took off never to be seen again.

Same trip, I was walking up this draw and then out of the blue there was a 5 point bull standing directly in front of me at less than 100 yards. We stood there staring at each other for a solid 3 minutes. I wasn’t being particular still, just watched him for a bit. Eventually I think he just got bored of me and trotted off. I’d love to know how that bull knew I had a cow tag.

 

[CJF]

My observations from living here a few seasons:
1) if you hike 5-8 miles down a trail there’s probably someone else doing the same thing
2) if you “scout” elk and have them nailed down to an area, by the time muzzle loader season is over they have probably been displaced
3) There’s nothing too steep for the elk to live in
4) if you can find an area with NO trails close by that is steep to get into, there’s probably elk there
5) it ain’t easy

 

[Newtosavage]

My observations from living here a few seasons:
1) if you hike 5-8 miles down a trail there’s probably someone else doing the same thing
2) if you “scout” elk and have them nailed down to an area, by the time muzzle loader season is over they have probably been displaced

My observations as well, after hunting in the Durango area in '15 and '16.

Especially being displaced by the time the ML season ends.

 

[Poser]

I’ve done a 2-3 day, 70 Mile bike trip from Molas Pass to Durango (Thru 74) on the CO Trail over Labor Day weekend the last two years in a row. The hunters I have encountered along the way are all in very predictable locations that probably look fantastic on Google Earth with no context. The places I did see elk would require above average ingenuity, motivation and/or physical fitness, even if you had horses. One of the general problems is making yourself get off trail. It’s just exceedingly tough country to get off trail on. You can stare at GE all day long and daydream about it, but the reality sets in the minute you are faced with a trail that snakes the path of least resistance vs. stupid steep terrain complete with rock outcroppings that will cliff you out, deadfall and avalanche debris fields, all of which can take hours to navigate a single mile.

 

[chasewild]

I'm early in the process of getting together an OTC archery hunt in Colorado. I’ve been looking hard at the units around Durango (mostly 75 and 751). On paper, they look good, there are definitely elk in the area. But the hunter success rate in those units is pretty low, in the single digits. Would anyone familiar with the area be able to provide some insight into why? Are the elk on private land? Too much hunting pressure? Thanks

Because of threads like this. Everyone drives up from Texas or AZ or NM or over from Denver expecting to see elk on every peak. Instead, you'll see hunters on every ridge. I shit you not. And the most common phrase at the trailhead: "What's your handle??"

 

[Newtosavage]

I’ve done a 2-3 day, 70 Mile bike trip from Molas Pass to Durango (Thru 74) on the CO Trail over Labor Day weekend the last two years in a row. The hunters I have encountered along the way are all in very predictable locations that probably look fantastic on Google Earth with no context. The places I did see elk would require above average ingenuity, motivation and/or physical fitness, even if you had horses. One of the general problems is making yourself get off trail. It’s just exceedingly tough country to get off trail on. You can stare at GE all day long and daydream about it, but the reality sets in the minute you are faced with a trail that snakes the path of least resistance vs. stupid steep terrain complete with rock outcroppings that will cliff you out, deadfall and avalanche debris fields, all of which can take hours to navigate a single mile.

So YOU'RE one of those guys I saw. LOL

This flatlander is amazed at where you guys can take those mountain bikes. One day I was glassing and looked up at a flat between two peaks, about 1 mile away. From where I sat (about 10K') it looked WAY up there and I got excited for a minute because I thought I saw some elk. Then I realized it was just two mountain bikers making their way along the CO trail and I was speechless. It would have taken me 3 hours of hiking to get to where they were. My hat's off to you fellas!

I know spots in that country where I could reliably see elk every time I looked. Morning, noon and evening. Getting to them however - that was another story. And getting one out would have been quite a trick even with horses if you could even have gotten a horse to where they were. But day after day on my way to or from camp, I'd stop and look and there they were. Drove me nuts. LOL

One early morning, my buddy and I made the effort to get to a place where we had seen elk the evening before at last light. We hiked for 2 solid hours in the dark but when we got there, we realized the herd was on the next ridge about 1/2 mi. across a canyon we weren't willing or able to cross. For six straight days, we played hide and seek on that mountain with the herd always one step ahead of us.

 

[chasewild]

https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/and-here-it-comes.97447/

 

[Tobe_B]

I’m up near Durango for the next few days and hopefully I’ll be able to break away and get some “scouting” in. I say “scouting” because honestly, I’m probably just going to ride my motorcycle and see how far up the roads I can get before snow turns me around.

Through GE I’ve found I think two solid areas I like and I’d like to find one or two more. One area isn’t too high, 10,000 ft max, but the other one is up there, 11,500 plus. One is wilderness and the other is not. Both are about 3-4 miles from a trailhead, which honestly is as far as Im willing or able to pack an elk anyway.

Enjoy the area. It’s a great time of year to be here. Hopefully the rain doesn’t hamper your riding too much. I’m not even sure if the USFS is opening roads yet. Just saw a post from them that it could be awhile. Most roads are still covered in snow and debris. I’m not even considering any real scouting in my areas until July.


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[DW83]

Enjoy the area. It’s a great time of year to be here. Hopefully the rain doesn’t hamper your riding too much. I’m not even sure if the USFS is opening roads yet. Just saw a post from them that it could be awhile. Most roads are still covered in snow and debris. I’m not even considering any real scouting in my areas until July.


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If I make it up, it’s going to be tomorrow. I’m not going to do any kind of real scouting, I’ll likely never get off the bike. If theres some forest roads open, great. If not, there’s still some great riding out there.

 

[DW83]

Because of threads like this. Everyone drives up from Texas or AZ or NM or over from Denver expecting to see elk on every peak. Instead, you'll see hunters on every ridge. I shit you not. And the most common phrase at the trailhead: "What's your handle??"

If you would just tell me exactly where to find the elk, I wouldn’t have to make posts like this.

 

[Poser]

If you would just tell me exactly where to find the elk, I wouldn’t have to make posts like this.

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.

 

[chasewild]

If you would just tell me exactly where to find the elk, I wouldn’t have to make posts like this.

This is actually funny. Nice job.