Holy Smokes!!!

[hobbes]

Am I imagining things or are there more posts asking for unit specific information than usual or is it just how they stand out when locked?

A few posts come up stating that draws are complete for elk and deer and the "I drew Unit X" then some plea for help posts follow immediately afterwards.

I suppose it's nothing new, but seems to stand out more every draw season.

 

[Jaquomo]

More people are applying for western states than ever before. CO apps are exploding.. So no surprise that so many are asking for help after drawing a unit about which they have no clue. I'm getting more PMs and emails than normal about CO in the past few days.

 

[Geewhiz]

I do appreciate how the mods immediately trash the threads on here.

 

[Fatcamp]

My Colorado hunting Facebook page is full of people:

A-Upset that the non-residents got all the tags, and

B-Asking for help on the tag they drew because they have never been there and know nothing about it.

Neither one of these groups have the faintest idea how to read, apparently.

 

[jmez]

I simply have zero understanding why someone would apply for a tag prior to doing any research???????

Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2023 using Tapatalk

 

[ElkNut1]

It's because they HEARD good reports on these various units. No serious research on their own!

ElkNut

 

[Ten Bears]

it’s truly amazing.

we live in times where getting information is literally a click away….

and people are too lazy or dumb to make the effort to read and understand it.

 

[Indian Summer]

Typical right after draw results. I can’t imagine applying somewhere without knowing something about the area. There’s a DIY Hunting page on Facebook where talking about unit specifics is the main topic of conversation.

 

[Jaquomo]

It can work both ways, too. Last year a Rokslider reached out to me in a PM about CO, which I bowhunted successfully not long ago. Turns out we are about the same age, have similar backgrounds and life values, and he only lives about 20 miles down the mountain from me.

In return for my sharing info with him, he turned me onto a hell of an area in a new unit I've been trying to learn the past couple years. We scouted and checked cams together in the summer, we fish together, and our hunting wives have become friends.

We planned to camp and hunt together this year but our tag draws didn't cooperate. But we will in the future.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

It can work both ways, too. Last year a Rokslider reached out to me in a PM about CO unit 2, which I bowhunted successfully not long ago. Turns out we are about the same age, have similar backgrounds and life values, and he only lives about 20 miles down the mountain from me.

In return for my sharing info with him, he turned me onto a hell of an area in a new unit I've been trying to learn the past couple years. We scouted and checked cams together in the summer, we fish together, and our hunting wives have become friends.

We planned to camp and hunt together this year but our tag draws didn't cooperate. But we will in the future.

Love it when you can find like minded people with similar interests. It's a rare thing!

 

[hobbes]

It can work both ways, too. Last year a Rokslider reached out to me in a PM about CO, which I bowhunted successfully not long ago. Turns out we are about the same age, have similar backgrounds and life values, and he only lives about 20 miles down the mountain from me.

In return for my sharing info with him, he turned me onto a hell of an area in a new unit I've been trying to learn the past couple years. We scouted and checked cams together in the summer, we fish together, and our hunting wives have become friends.

We planned to camp and hunt together this year but our tag draws didn't cooperate. But we will in the future.

That's great but it's different than most of what we see. That was a PM and if I recall correctly from my CO days, Unit is nearly a once in a lifetime unit. A lot of folks are probably okay helping out with that info. Glad it worked out for you.

I've been too generous on several occasions, mostly on turkeys so not important to a lot of the folks here but also a couple times on elk and deer, and heard all the promises of sharing info and reporting back. I didn't help out for the sake of a return but at least a report back would have been nice. In most cases they disappear completely or don't even respond when asked how'd it go. It's rude as heck and typical of the folks asking for info. Maybe I've expected too much from folks.

In general, most (I said most)folks asking have no real intentions of sharing any info and likely have nothing worth sharing anyway if they are begging for handouts on an open forum. I've committed to ignoring requests for info through PM or not unless I know them through previous interaction. Even then it'll likely be general as heck.

 

[Jaquomo]

That's great but it's different than most of what we see. That was a PM and if I recall correctly from my CO days, Unit 2 is nearly a once in a lifetime unit. A lot of folks are probably okay helping out with that info. Glad it worked out for you.

I've been too generous on several occasions, mostly on turkeys so not important to a lot of the folks here but also a couple times on elk and deer, and heard all the promises of sharing info and reporting back. I didn't help out for the sake of a return but at least a report back would have been nice. In most cases they disappear completely or don't even respond when asked how'd it go. It's rude as heck and typical of the folks asking for info. Maybe I've expected too much from folks.

In general, most (I said most)folks asking have no real intentions of sharing any info and likely have nothing worth sharing anyway if they are begging for handouts on an open forum. I've committed to ignoring requests for info through PM or not unless I know them through previous interaction. Even then it'll likely be general as heck.

I have had that happen more times than I can count, which is why I'm reluctant to share anything specific about OTC or easier draw units I know. Moose and difficult draw units are different.

 

[Marble]

I've had some people PM me about CO regarding mule deer and elk. I won't give away my spots that took decades to figure out.


I think a lot of the people asking are either new to CO hunting, or inexperienced in general. They don't realize what they are asking for.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Ten Bears]

even worse is no one asks the real important questions…

where can I find a good burger or ice cream afterwards, is there a real gas station in the area or one of those keyed things (learned that the hard way), any potable water spouts around, decent toilet for the bad days, has the road been maintained at all in the past 20 years (looking at you New Mexico), etc.

 

[nphunter]

I personally don’t mind the posts, obvious it’s one thing to post advice on an open forum but to ask for it I think is perfectly fine. We all have to start somewhere, I had a dad to teach me how to hunt and steal hunting spots from Some people don’t have that luxury.

I’ve helped dozens of people on these forums. Most PM me feedback which is great and gives me a little more intel for the future. Honestly you could tell 100 people exactly where a group of elk are during archery season and 99 of them will never even see them because they will blow them out trying to get there. There is so much more to hunting than a spot.

If a person is relying on 1 or 2 good spots to do all of their hunting that sucks for them. So many non hunter related factors can ruin spots. I typically help several hunters each year by sharing info, a lot of times I even share way points. Over the years there have been less than a handful actually put on the work to be successful.


A coupe years ago a guy was on here or maybe another forum asking about filling a cow tag for his kid in a unit i elk hunt. I sent him a couple way points with some options depending on the experience he wanted. He chose the one where I told him if he went to that spot opening day just before dark there would be elk 90% of the time. The first night of the season he sent me a thank you with a picture of his son with his first elk, shot exactly where I told them to go. Last fall I told a couple younger gentlemen who drew a hard to draw rifle deer tag in a spot I archery deer hunt about a couple of good spots. They sent me a summer scouting report as well as some pics of bucks they saw, come season I got some pics of some incredible bucks they killed, both over 170” and big mature bucks. Most hunters in that unit report back on how crappy the unit is and that it’s over rated. Those kids put in a lot of work to find and kill those bucks, I just gave them a good staring point.

In the past I use to really be secretive about my spots and actually almost lost a really good friend and defiantly altered our relationship after chewing him out for taking someone into one of my spots. After that I came to the realization that it’s the hunt I enjoy and those spots aren’t even really that important to me, that spot eventually dried up anyway due to some road closures and logging, so now I am out a spot and have tarnished the relationship with a friend.

Sure there are spots I keep to myself but I have hundreds of spots where I hunt, I’ve killed a lot of deer and elk and have never killed two in the same spot. I like to explore and hunt new areas so I’m always finding new spots. I’m also a pretty selective hunter and won’t shoot a bull unless it is a 6 point or an old mature animal, same with deer, I’ve killed enough I don’t need to shoot a forked horn or young immature deer anymore.

One of my good friends came from a forum post, we were both online looking for info on a hunt in the frank. We ended up exchanging emails a bunch and decided to just hunt that hunt together. We had a great unsuccessful hunt that fall and have become great friends. He’s come out from PA multiple times since to hunt elk with me at home and is coming out again this fall.

I also don’t get mad when I see other hunters in the woods, I hunt one of the most hunted units in OR and am still successful every year. Most of the people I run into tell me how poor the hunting is but I’m in elk almost all day everyday. Same with other states I’ve been, to me elk hunting is elk hunting and it doesn’t matter where it’s at. I’m confident in can go into any unit in the US and find animals but having some feedback on a unit is nice. I sit at a desk most of the year and these forums and conversations are a great way to gather intel and kill time.

I think if a person doesn’t want to help then they can just keep scrolling but if a person wants to throw a person a bone than good on them. Just because someone is asking for some advice doesn’t mean they are lazy or not willing to put in the work.

 

[hobbes]

Honestly you could tell 100 people exactly where a group of elk are during archery season and 99 of them will never even see them because they will blow them out trying to get there. There is so much more to hunting than a spot

This is part of the problem. Why do I need those 99 people to blow the elk out?

 

[nphunter]

This is part of the problem. Why do I need those 99 people to blow the elk out?

I don’t think it’s a problem at all. Just hunt smarter or harder. We do need more hunters advocating for us, I enjoy seeing others be successful and have never blamed others for my lack of success?

I will continue to help everyone I can be successful where I can. If a person chooses not to then that’s their choice. I also believe in good karma and so far it’s working out for me.

 

[bozeman]

@nphunter - spot on!!......too many people complaining and jumping to conclusions about people they dont even know......we all started somewhere.

 

[hobbes]

If you're under the impression that I've not spent a considerable amount of time giving out info in the past, you are mistaken. My "assumptions" come from what I've gotten in return on multiple occasions. It's rarely been in any way rewarding if I don't already have a connection.

"Hunt harder and smarter" also makes assumptions. I would say smarter includes not making effort to blow out elk that I use boots on the ground to find by broadcasting it on a forum. What does handing out info on a forum have to do with hunting harder and smarter anyway?

I don't need to make assumptions on what folks are looking for. Regardless of what they say, what they are hoping for is some fool, enter me on several occasions, to have this sense that we are all just good ole boys that are on the same team with the same values and all would get along just great around a campfire telling stories and laughing. They only need one or two to spill their guts and point them in the right direction and they are off to the races rarely looking back, rarely if ever considering what it takes to locate and stay in elk or any other game for that matter.

I'm not sure how having a dad that hunted plays into this either. My dad hunted waterfowl, whitetails, and turkeys in Southern IL and only set foot in the mountains after I came here. I made sure that he experienced the West some time ago.

I'm more than willing to help folks get started, but I'm tired of it being free info on a forum to folks that I have no connection to and no way of knowing if their sad story is remotely true. They are as likely to be scammers as a newbie in the classifieds.

If it's working for you, great, but it hasn't worked for me.

 

[nphunter]

If you're under the impression that I've not spent a considerable amount of time giving out info in the past, you are mistaken. My "assumptions" come from what I've gotten in return on multiple occasions. It's rarely been in any way rewarding if I don't already have a connection.

"Hunt harder and smarter" also makes assumptions. I would say smarter includes not making effort to blow out elk that I use boots on the ground to find by broadcasting it on a forum. What does handing out info on a forum have to do with hunting harder and smarter anyway?

I don't need to make assumptions on what folks are looking for. Regardless of what they say, what they are hoping for is some fool, enter me on several occasions, to have this sense that we are all just good ole boys that are on the same team with the same values and all would get along just great around a campfire telling stories and laughing. They only need one or two to spill their guts and point them in the right direction and they are off to the races rarely looking back, rarely if ever considering what it takes to locate and stay in elk or any other game for that matter.

I'm not sure how having a dad that hunted plays into this either. My dad hunted waterfowl, whitetails, and turkeys in Southern IL and only set foot in the mountains after I came here. I made sure that he experienced the West some time ago.

I'm more than willing to help folks get started, but I'm tired of it being free info on a forum to folks that I have no connection to and no way of knowing if their sad story is remotely true. They are as likely to be scammers as a newbie in the classifieds.

If it's working for you, great, but it hasn't worked for me.

I’m generalizing not talking about you specifically. But if your helping people expecting something in return then IMO your helping for the wrong reasons. I enjoy helping others be successful period, it doesn’t matter to me if they can’t do the same for me.

I have made some good friendships on these forums and have gotten help as well, but I’ve also happily helped lots of others with nothing in return.

I know what it takes to find good spots, I hunt about 70-90 days each year and spend a huge amount of time scouting all summer. This year me and my kids have 14 tags to fill and I have 9 weeks schedule off to hunt. Hunting and chasing my kids around during sports is all I do for fun or hobbies. Not everyone has that luxury to get out as much as me, why not help where and when I can?