High, or not so high?

[Dougfir]

Hi all,

I'm in the planning stages of my first elk hunt. I'll be out in SW CO for the first rifle season, this Fall. Nearly everything I read about elk hunting says that elk will largely stay high at that time of year (unless there are deep, early snows). I began my search for locations looking at country that is mostly 10-11,000 feet, up in and around a large wilderness area. However, I recently talked to a guy who hunted the same unit last year and said that he found just the opposite; tons of outfitterss and other hunters in the high-country, but not a ton of elk. He found good numbers of elk down in the sagebrushy hills below the wilderness, mostly on BLM land and down between 8-9000 feet. The sagebrushy area is known to be winter-range for a large number of elk.

His report has me re-thinking my strategy and I'm curious if more experienced elk hunters (especially in CO), have any thoughts about this? By mid-October, do you tend to find a lot of elk down in the Winter range already? Or, was this a unique situation, brought on by unusual weather? Thanks for any wisdom you can pass on!

 

[westrnwild]

Wow....so I'd say it depends.. Some areas Get pounded by pressure up high and others down low. I've gone high and low...my suggestion is go where others aren't..whether that's hig or low...the more people especially outfitters your chances go down. Study a map..mark where others are and figure out the gap..also just cause people say its a good unit or a magazine or a forum doesn't make it so.

 

[Bar]

More elk will be found high for 1st rifle, but elk can be at all altitudes. I know of some bulls that live at 8000ft year around.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Interesting topic. I was wondering the same. I'm thinking hunting pressure or lack of it will move the Elk more than anything else. They will not stay where they don't feel safe.

 

[Spreadcrusher]

We found the same thing during first rifle season. The first three days we spent above 10k feet. We ran into very few hunters and encountered a lot of elk sign but saw and spotted very few actual animals. It wasn't until we dropped down into the 8-10k foot elevation range that we had eyes on the animals. After the hunt we ran into a rancher with grazing rights and he told us the higher elevations had been hit hard by outfitters and the elk had lowered down extremely early into the thickets and dark timber. It seemed like he was correct from everything we saw. It has changed my plans for this years hunt. Best of luck.

 

[bowhunter15]

I second what's been said above. On my hunt last fall 1st rifle, the elk were up high opening morning, and so were the hunters. Lots of shooting. After that, snow hit, sign went way down, and shots were non-existent. The snow wasn't enough to push the elk by itself I don't think. I believe the hunting pressure played a big part in pushing the elk lower.

 

[Elkfitness]

You'll find elk wherever they can find sanctuary. In theory there are high early season, but some elk stay lower. In the unit I hunt, the elk are at all elevations. Some elk like the lower hay fields and ranches and some like the high meadows.