First Rifle Elk in Colorado - Need Advice

[cnelk]

I know where the elk were in 68 - but that was a month ago

 

[Packmansion]

Alright, that sounds more reasonable, I guess don’t expect too much man. A lot of guys myself included have hunting spots in the units you mention. We aren’t going to burn spots that we have worked our butts off to figure out… the internet is chalk full info on where to go/ look during different seasons

I think you've said too much

 

[Hnthrdr]

I think you've said too much

Okay buddy, here you go, get away from roads, use those hiking legs to get to spots where you cannot ATV, 68 has lots of roads, 681 less so. If they aren’t at 11k in the open then I would look lower than that, they must be in the timber/ drainages where you can’t see into from the the atv roads. Since the elk have been hunted for over a month and will get hammered for another month it’s about time for them to get to private or nasty hell holes. Find some horrific deadfall on the north slopes and they will be chilling in it.

 

[Packmansion]

No go brother man, you get 1, A list tag a year per species, your 1st rifle tag was an A list tag…

Also if you start in Bonanza, head south to Sagauche for lunch, then south west to storm king mountain. That is 30 ish miles you should run into elk somewhere along that route

I'll make sure to stretch while im in Saguache.

 

[Seamaster]

Hey everyone,

I am new to elk hunting. I am in decent shape. I have no problem doing long hikes to retrieve an Elk. My wife can help me pack out the meat but her carrying capacity is limited. I scouted my gmu 3 weekends in September. Went out hunting. I never saw one elk scouting or hunting. I saw elk crap but mostly old, I saw much more mule deer crap. My scouting strategy was just getting on high points early morning and late afternoon. I spent most of my time at 11,000 ft. I saw Mule deer and pronghorn. I do not have an ATV. One of the things I noticed was I was really constrained to the roads. Is that a huge disadvantage?

Is an ATV a good investment for elk hunting? The gmu I was in has lots of ATV trails that I cannot access.

How far off a road do I need to be willing to hike in to take an Elk?

Should I spend more time hiking in and looking for sign on the ground?

Any additional advice would be appreciated!

I have seen elk move away quickly when they hear an ATV during daylight. They might be useful for packing out or putting in a spike camp, but I believe that they are too noisy for most hunting purposes. After season opens most elk will be found where most people will not, or can not, go.

 

[trophyhill]

I think you miss interpreted what I said. I asked for advice on hunting elk.

I think you miss interpreted what I said. I asked for advice on hunting elk.

I think you miss interpreted what I said. I asked for advice on hunting elk.

Ok my bad. My advice would be to have realistic expectations on how much ground to cover while hunting elk. 30-40 miles is not realistic.

 

[Packmansion]

Fixed it for you

It's working now. Appreciate the help.

 

[NickyD]

Thanks for the advice. To clarify I'm not covering 30 miles a day. 30 miles is my limit. I had not been focused previously looking for sign. I was just hitting high points and glassing. Makes sense to get into potential feeding, watering areas to look for sign. I only did this on my last day of hunting.

Glassing is still very effective and you should definitely make plans for it but majority of the time it’s only effective a few hours per day. The rifle seasons here are too short to waste time

 

[Marble]

@Packman

I like that your reaching out for some help with locating some elk. I'll get to that shortly.

This place has some legit hard hunting guys that have been around. My advice is to be humble and ask questions. Some guys will only get one chance in here before they get pushed into getting or just leaving. Take it slow.

As far as locating elk, I'm not exactly sure what you are doing, but it seems you need to think really big when glassing. Sometimes I am glassing up to 10 miles out. I have several spots to glass from where I can see several drainages. I'm not looking for trophy elk specifically, more just herds of elk.

So get on Google Earth and find as high place as possible and then search in that area for a good place to spot elk.

Some of the most successful hunters are those that over time have located spots to sit and glass and find elk.

Typically I'll sleep in and glass in the morning when I didn't locate elk the night before.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[enbhunts]

Find the high points in your unit that you would want to access, an do the walking with your eyes. You can cover so much more ground with the glass. Figure out the patterns of the elk in the specific season you're hunting and prob most importantly: how do they respond to pressure? Which drainage or bench or mtn will the run to?
Hope you find success

 

[Packmansion]

Glassing is still very effective and you should definitely make plans for it but majority of the time it’s only effective a few hours per day. The rifle seasons here are too short to waste time

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Packmansion]

@Packman

I like that your reaching out for some help with locating some elk. I'll get to that shortly.

This place has some legit hard hunting guys that have been around. My advice is to be humble and ask questions. Some guys will only get one chance in here before they get pushed into getting or just leaving. Take it slow.

As far as locating elk, I'm not exactly sure what you are doing, but it seems you need to think really big when glassing. Sometimes I am glassing up to 10 miles out. I have several spots to glass from where I can see several drainages. I'm not looking for trophy elk specifically, more just herds of elk.

So get on Google Earth and find as high place as possible and then search in that area for a good place to spot elk.

Some of the most successful hunters are those that over time have located spots to sit and glass and find elk.

Typically I'll sleep in and glass in the morning when I didn't locate elk the night before.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Thanks for the advice. That sounds like a solid strategy both for the forum and hunting. One of the challenges I had was figuring out what to do when. I tried glassing multiple high points because I did not have familiarity of the are but then I didn't go all out and find an optimal high point. Looking back it would have been better time spent focusing on one or two good spot than using multiple mediocre spots.

 

[Packmansion]

Find the high points in your unit that you would want to access, an do the walking with your eyes. You can cover so much more ground with the glass. Figure out the patterns of the elk in the specific season you're hunting and prob most importantly: how do they respond to pressure? Which drainage or bench or mtn will the run to?
Hope you find success

Thanks for the advice.