How long should you hunt a OTC unit

[Andrewlonghi]

Hunted colorado last year for elk for the first time and plan to go back. Didn't harvest a elk but did see some and a few nice mule deer. I think I messed up by not spending any amount of time in one unit and tried to hunt to many in a short period of time. How long would you spend in a unit if your seeing/finding sign vs not finding anything? If I'm not finding elk should I move farther in to the unit or move all together

 

[Rich M]

If you find elk you hunt them. The old saying is not to leave fish if you found fish. Same for elk. Get in there and kill one as opposed to running round and looking.

 

[Next Ridge]

it depends what you mean by seeing elk. If you are seeing them 1000+m away with glass vs seeing them 50 yds away (not sure if archery or rifle) my decision would’ve different based on a lot of factors. Weather, access, terrain, time of day seeing them, etc. with sign, make sure it’s fresh, like green and wet, otherwise keep looking.

It’s really hard to say about staying in unit vs moving without knowing more about which season, weather, mode of hunting…in general if I am not in elk in a way that will offer a shot opportunity or seeing very fresh sign I move, but whether that is a unit, drainage or quarter of state move could vary on a lot of factors

 

[Trap]

You need to cover a lot of ground or at least I do. If I have and don’t see at least fresh sign I move. Some of our units are huge so I rarely have to totally change the hunting unit. I have been hunting the same spots for decades so if they’re not in one spot I have a bunch of others to check. Eventually I catch up to them. Elk stay. No sign of elk move but they could be piled up in the next drainage over so not sure you need to hop hunting units.

 

[Kyle C]

I may be the odd one, but covering ground and finding a bull that plays my game is what gets me off. If I'm in a area more then a few days and havnt let a arrow fly I move even if I'm in a area that has sign and elk present. To many times I've left bugling elk that have had alot of pressure to move over a few drainages or a few miles deeper and shoot a bull day 1. Im the odd guy that will leave elk to find elk.

 

[Elkhntr08]

Never leave elk to find elk, don’t care if you’re seeing them at 1000 yards. You’re learning the area, figure out how to close the distance.
Why would you start at square one when you’re seeing elk.
The way Colorado is going, your unit may be draw next year. In a couple years, tags may be harder to get and now you know the area!

 

[Mykolaivka887]

I've been known to oftentimes sit on the same rock every day, all day, for up to 28 days, watching the same patch of real estate over and over and over again, when hunting trophy big game animals. If the sign is there, or if you know a particular giant lurks there, why leave?

 

[cnelk]

Too many times guys hunt elk where they want them to be, not where they are

 

[big44a4]

Not to muddy the water. Seeing sign is great but not always a true sample of what is there. If I went off seeing sign alone I would not go back to where I was last year. But I had more opportunities in 3 days than I have in the previous 5 years combined. Saw a lot of other hunters too so don’t let that scare you away from a good “area.” I say that because I talked to the other groups of hunters I ran into and they were seeing one here and one there. Not close to the numbers I saw.

A lot of factors in play, but finding fresh sign is great just not the entire equation.

 

[Jaquomo]

I hunt the whole season, almost, or as long as needed, and cover a 400 square mile area. I hit known and likely spots until I find elk I want to hunt. Sometimes I'll move base camp 5-6 times. Elk are where you find them. They can be 17 miles in, or 400 yards from a busy county road, like my last bull.

Be mobile until you find elk, then hunt them. .

 

[Andrewlonghi]

Appreciate the advice guys, sorry should have mentioned this will be for archery

 

[Mcribs]

Got my first last year, wasted 5 days hunting where I saw several days old sign and recent sightings. I thought they were around but they had moved. Finally pushed deeper in after good advice to go find the elk. Killed on last day. I thought I understood but now I understand a little better. Elk are nomads, go get them.

 

[cnelk]

Ive archery hunted my OTC areas for over 3 decades. Its not uncommon for me to put over 800 miles on my truck in 10 days of hard hunting.

Gotta go find em

 

[williaada]

Cnelk hit the nail on the head.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Where I hunt elk, they're in the same seasonal locations every year. So I'm not having to hike or drive willy-nilly all over the place, searching for them.

However, that's not to say that in the first year of ever hunting a particular game management unit, I didn't have to do at least some driving and some walking when doing pre-season scouting.

But bottom line is that in the places I hunt, elk are found in the same locations each and every year.

So for me, it's basically just going to where the elk have been in the past and then just waiting them out. But, I tend to hunt areas that receive little or no hunting pressure and that makes things easier, because other nimrods aren't pushing the elk around.

 

[Wrench]

The state/s set the time. You set the dedication. Success rates are typically sub 15% because it's not easy. Stick and move.....stick and move.

 

[Marble]

Appreciate the advice guys, sorry should have mentioned this will be for archery

Since it is archery, I would hunt an OTC unit for as long as needed to get a good idea on what is in the unit. I've found that if you find elk sign in a drainage, but no elk, they will be back. It needs to be within a few weeks and I want to see fresh rubs. Fresh scat works too but if I'm not seeing that and not hearing anything, I keep moving from one drainage to another until I find animals.

As far as learning a unit, that can take several years.

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