Hows Colorado Archery season been?

[Brandon_SPC]

Just thought I would get a thread started on how everyone's Colorado Archery elk season has been? I will be leaving Wednesday for about 10 days of hunting around 9,500-12,000 feet in elevation.

How has it been:
Wet/Dry?
Bulls starting to Bugle?
Chasing?
Any success?

 

[coloyooper]

First week was dry. Didn't make it back up this past weekend but will be out the next couple. Few buddies have had success. Some areas more vocal than others. Sitting here counting down the hours until I can get back up

 

[Poser]

Might get a better survey asking on a Texas hunting forum.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

First week was dry. Didn't make it back up this past weekend but will be out the next couple. Few buddies have had success. Some areas more vocal than others. Sitting here counting down the hours until I can get back up

Glad to hear y'all are having some success and I am in the same boat as you. These last few days are taking forever to go by.

Might get a better survey asking on a Texas hunting forum.

I figured that but hey I might as well start some kind of the thread. I was hoping to see some pictures of dead bulls hit the thread.

 

[Bowman1989]

On the plane heading out of Durango now back to GA. Rained everyday of our 6 day hunt heard one bugle and got within 150 yards of 3 pretty decent bulls. Not bad for the first time I guess.

 

[Jwknutson17]

Hot, dry, and silent for the first 6 days. OTC unit. Had a few bulls come silent into light advertising. Nothing worth shooting. Took last weekend off. Heading back in for 5 days here shortly. Hoping the weather cools and elk are talking.

Only one guy shot a small Raghorn out of anyone we talked to opening weekend. Been an interesting year so far.

 

[Howell81]

We spent first 7 days of season in the HOT & dry and didn't hear a single bugle or cow. Saw a couple on a few mtn tops but no luck in either finding a way up or they were gone the next day. We went home to Illinois with empty coolers. In my opinion, its been a crappy start to the season. Looks like this week has really picked up.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

Thank you everyone. From where I am going the weather at the end of this week and next week looks to be in the upper 50s to lower 60s (8,750 feet). I will be around 10,000 feet (camp) so hopefully a little cooler. Maybe this cooler weather will get the elk kicking off.

 

[Scooter90254]

We hunted the first 8 days. Mostly hot and dry. Only movement was the first hour of day light and last hour before dark. The rest of the day was a wash. Hunting pressure was out of this world and shut the bulls right up after the first morning.

Was lucky and took a small 5x5 that we called in silent and we had 1 other opportunity at a bigger bull but couldn't get a shot.

Tough for sure.

 

[co_archer]

OTC units (one more south, one more north) Has been silent thus far. No answers to calls and no calls in the morning or night. Fairly warm but I've seen worse. Have had eyes on a few cows in both units (one from about 250 yards away and in the other unit a few guys were already on them (TOO CROWDED!!) but no success thus far

 

[Brandon_SPC]

OTC units (one more south, one more north) Has been silent thus far. No answers to calls and no calls in the morning or night. Fairly warm but I've seen worse. Have had eyes on a few cows in both units (one from about 250 yards away and in the other unit a few guys were already on them (TOO CROWDED!!) but no success thus far

When you talk about this area being crowded are we talking about easy access areas or places that are long walks in?

 

[co_archer]

When you talk about this area being crowded are we talking about easy access areas or places that are long walks in?

The area that was crowded was an easier unit to access. So that's expected! The other unit was much better, and to your point, an 8 mile hike just to get in the general location.

 

[LongWayAround]

I've been at it since Saturday. I had a brief exchange with one this morning and heard a few other distant bugles in previous days. So far, I've only seen one and he didn't stick around long enough for a shot. This afternoon, I went to town for a shower, a burger, and a new spot. I'll be after them until Sunday, then back to work for the week. The full(ish) moon cast my shadow walking out last night but it seemed to have set fairly early in the night as it was pitch black when I woke up around 3:00am.

A few deer here and there, with only one having shed his velvet. No bears spotted yet and less sign of them than usual.

I got a picture of a raghorn from a guy who said they were fired up wherever he was. I'm hoping to find some cows tonight/tomorrow. Surely there will be a hot one somewhere...

Three tags burning up my pocket and the standards are dropping fast.

 

[Scooter90254]

When you talk about this area being crowded are we talking about easy access areas or places that are long walks in?

We opened the season 3.5 miles from the trailhead and by Saturday afternoon we overrun by other hunters. Moved back 6 miles from closest access and there was still a good number of guys back there. Some on horseback.

I for one am all for limiting tags on a per unit basis.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

We opened the season 3.5 miles from the trailhead and by Saturday afternoon we overrun by other hunters. Moved back 6 miles from closest access and there was still a good number of guys back there. Some on horseback.

I for one am all for limiting tags on a per unit basis.

Is it mainly just weekend warriors or people on an extended hunt? Reason I ask is here in the South we deal with A LOT of hunters on the weekend and it is EXTREMELY hard to get away from anyone because there is a road to every place accessible but during the week it seems I practically have the management area to myself (200,000 acres). At least to me it always seems like the first two weekends are always packed then the last two weekends end up being the die hards that want to punch that tag.

You mention tags for a unit basis. I have always wondered about that because last night I was looking at Colorado hunter number for all seasons. And in 2018 it was about 225,000 with 2005 being the highest of about 249,000 hunters. But there was a trend over the last 5 years the numbers of bow hunters have increased by like 10,000 hunters. Still lower hunters overall vs about 15 years ago but archery numbers just keep slowly increasing. I wonder why?

As a non resident I would like to see OTC with caps (within reason if they are going to limit opportunity alot then keep it unlimited) or have a closing date on OTC tags so Colorado isn't a "play in the back pocket state" because hunters didn't get drawn in other states.

I've been at it since Saturday. I had a brief exchange with one this morning and heard a few other distant bugles in previous days. So far, I've only seen one and he didn't stick around long enough for a shot. This afternoon, I went to town for a shower, a burger, and a new spot. I'll be after them until Sunday, then back to work for the week. The full(ish) moon cast my shadow walking out last night but it seemed to have set fairly early in the night as it was pitch black when I woke up around 3:00am.

A few deer here and there, with only one having shed his velvet. No bears spotted yet and less sign of them than usual.

I got a picture of a raghorn from a guy who said they were fired up wherever he was. I'm hoping to find some cows tonight/tomorrow. Surely there will be a hot one somewhere...

Three tags burning up my pocket and the standards are dropping fast.

My standards are the first legal raghorn that offers a shot. lol Keep us updated I'm very interested on how your week unfolds. I will be hiking in on Friday.

 

[JG358]

When you talk about this area being crowded are we talking about easy access areas or places that are long walks in?

Doesn't seem that distance makes much difference in crowding any more as there are more and more people willing to go the distance. Once you get past the distance the average backpack hunter is willing to hike in, you start to run into the folks on horse back.

 

[Poser]

In reference to the weekend warrior question, there might be a little more weekend pressure but that’s just a little spike of locals. Non residents come out for week long stretches. Many of them leave wherever after work on Friday or on Saturday morning and arrive 1-3 days later. I went scouting this weekend and drove a 25 mile stretch of FS rd to the end and then hiked in 7 miles to scout over into another unit. I didn’t see a lot of hunters on The way in, but hiking the last 2 miles out and driving the road out: holy shit was it the F350 parade! Non residents driving in with campers + a 2nd trailer behind full of ATVs, horse trailers, jalopy camps at every pull out, ScentLok camo.... the whole 9 yards. At least in this area, I imagine Mondays to be more crowded than Fridays because people travel on the weekends and hunt through the week using only 40 hours of vacation.

 

[rob86jeep]

We opened the season 3.5 miles from the trailhead and by Saturday afternoon we overrun by other hunters. Moved back 6 miles from closest access and there was still a good number of guys back there. Some on horseback.

I for one am all for limiting tags on a per unit basis.

When you say 3.5 miles from the trail head, are you saying you hiked a trail 3.5 miles back and there were still people or 3.5 mile from the trail into the open woods?

I've noticed that you need to get miles off the trail to really be in solitude. There's also a sweet spot when it comes to trails. Usually a few miles will get you away from people but go far (6+ miles) and you'll be into horse/guide camps.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

When you say 3.5 miles from the trail head, are you saying you hiked a trail 3.5 miles back and there were still people or 3.5 mile from the trail into the open woods?

I've noticed that you need to get miles off the trail to really be in solitude. There's also a sweet spot when it comes to trails. Usually a few miles will get you away from people but go far (6+ miles) and you'll be into horse/guide camps.

I have noticed the same thing. Where we hunt is only about 1 mile off the trail/road but we never see anyone but if you keep following the road or trail it is full of people in general, not just hunters. Granted the place we hunt is a complete B-Word to get into. Very high and rough country but this is why I always wonder about the crowded people talk about because we never see it.

 

[DenverBulls]

want to find hunters? Watch any one of onx, Randy newberg, Corey Jacobsen, or Born and Raised Outdoors “e-scouting” series, and do what they tell you. I appreciate all (most?) of what those guys do, but it’s pretty predictable where the out of staters will end up.