Hot Weather - Opening Week of Archery

cnelk

WKR
Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Messages
7,463
Location
Colorado
Forecast says hot weather for the first week of archery season for most of the West.

What’s your game plan?
 

sndmn11

"DADDY"
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
10,395
Location
Morrison, Colorado
Game plan: make elk appear in front of @KickinNDishin at 30 yards prior to it's knowledge of our presence and while we/she are paying attention. Also while she has her bow. Calling in dark timber and being sneaky.
 

rclouse79

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Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
1,882
This is by where I hunt, in town is mostly over 100. It is depressing. I am sure I will be doing more sitting in the shade and watching than hiking. Not as much fun but probably more effective than my usual bumbling around the woods.
It wasn’t that many years ago I got snowed on opening morning.

B7561B6A-D50F-4B01-BE75-E5C2CA74C030.jpeg
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2013
Messages
1,931
Every year I go through same pre hunt emotions…..

How many people will show up?

Colorado or out of state?

Where are the sheep herds?

The weather really is the last thing I think about, but this is exactly the weather I want and prefer. Won’t /can’t comment on tactics.

We shall see!, now it’s all about crowd management.
 
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
2,723
Location
Tijeras NM
No changes for me. Pretty typical. I anticipate silent elk early and often the first week with the possibility of screaming bulls on occasion. I would love to put a cow in the freezer early.
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2016
Messages
2,588
I'm going to follow the advice of the pros:

"Most of the time, bugling during the day is less effective early on unless you find a bull that is really fired up. However, anything can happen when you are in the elk woods so if all else fails, start ripping on that bugle tube. "

LOL

Capture.JPG
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
16,162
Location
Colorado Springs
I'll mostly just be hiking with my bow, scouting some new areas, checking stuff out. And fighting off all the flies and yellow jackets that I've already experienced this week. Tons of them. But ya, supposed to be hot. (y) You'll be covered up in them if you shoot something anytime before evening. I will resist shooting early in the season as well if possible.
 

Hnthrdr

WKR
Joined
Jan 29, 2022
Messages
3,549
Location
The West
Have scouted some good looking wallows in a dark timber basin, play is to head there first and sneak around with the wind in my favor. I anticipate it to be quiet out the gate, maybe some soft cow/calf calling and waiting for that bull to creep in silently
 

Poser

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Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,615
Location
Durango CO
I’ll be backpacking a high elevation stretch of the CO trail through unit 76 just for something to do until bears start hitting acorns.

Temps don’t look bad. Closest town at 9200 feet is mid 70s, I’ll be above 12k the whole time so should be 6 degrees cooler.
Durango is supposed to hit 90, though.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2016
Messages
601
Closest town to where I’m hunting is near 100 degrees friday

I made a game plan for 4 days that will keep us in dark timber near water for the whole trip. Have enuff different locations to not hunt the same stuff twice during the trip.

Every 300 yards or so we’ll hang out and do some cow and calf calls for 20-30 minutes.

It’s going to be a hot, monotonous trip doing this over and over. On the bright side I think it will be pretty much impossible to not call in a couple bulls if we stick to the plan. It will just be a matter of getting a shot in the thick timber and blowdown.
 

Hnthrdr

WKR
Joined
Jan 29, 2022
Messages
3,549
Location
The West
Closest town to where I’m hunting is near 100 degrees friday

I made a game plan for 4 days that will keep us in dark timber near water for the whole trip. Have enuff different locations to not hunt the same stuff twice during the trip.

Every 300 yards or so we’ll hang out and do some cow and calf calls for 20-30 minutes.

It’s going to be a hot, monotonous trip doing this over and over. On the bright side I think it will be pretty much impossible to not call in a couple bulls if we stick to the plan. It will just be a matter of getting a shot in the thick timber and blowdown.
It’s monotonous, and not as sexy as screaming bulls, but I’d venture that this tactic kills more big bulls the first week of season when hot than anything else
 

IdahoHntr

WKR
Joined
May 3, 2018
Messages
393
Location
Idaho Falls
Spottin and stalkin.. I'm tired of getting spanked by velvet bucks. I need to stalk one of these big dumb elk and remind myself that I can actually kill something.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2016
Messages
601
It’s monotonous, and not as sexy as screaming bulls, but I’d venture that this tactic kills more big bulls the first week of season when hot than anything else
Not sure why, but where I hunt it produces raghorns and spikes. The big bulls show up sometime after the 10th. We pretty much never have them sneaking in quiet. The big bulls we get on respond to a call and then we go after them.
 
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