Forgive me for possibly rehashing a common topic.
I have a 4th season cow elk tag in a unit of western CO. I've hunted 4th season CO cow elk a few times, so I'm not a complete beginner, but I'm hunting a brand new area to me, and I wanted to ping the forum for some general ideas.
Generally, I'm wondering what y'all have found to be an effective strategy for hunting the Thanksgiving time of year. I've shot two in the last few years in this season, in a different unit, and both were fairly high elevation - about 9500', in spruce/fir/aspen vegetation. The second time had recently been snowed on, and had maybe 6" in shaded areas. I remember noting how surprised I was to realize that they were still up at that elevation, given the low temps and a decent amount of snow accumulation. From those years of experience, my general strategy formulated into something like:
"Go high - 8-10k' - or until snow is too deep to move around easily, but some snow on the ground is not bad. Find vantage points from which you can glass lots of country (esp. sunrise and sunset), including steep, nasty draws, and look especially for south facing slopes with sun and feed. Also keep an eye out for fresh tracks if in the snow. These areas probably have less hunting pressure, too."
But the fact is, I don't really know if this strategy generalizes well to other areas - maybe I just keyed in on a good few draws in the unit I had been hunting, that happen to hold elk at that time of year? I also know that another common strategy that time of year is to focus on lower-elevation areas, possibly near ag/private land. Personally, for this new area, I'm torn between focusing on lower elevation areas (mostly juniper and sage, in the 6-7k' elevation range) or higher (8-9k', in the pine/spruce/fir/aspen areas). (I find that the elevation between, in CO, is a big oak thicket that is nearly impossible to move around, though maybe there is a good way to hunt this, too?) Of course I know I can choose one and move if I don't have luck (or weather might make the choice for me, if we get some big storms).
What do y'all think? What has worked for you? Happy to hear any and all advice. Stories always appreciated.
I have a 4th season cow elk tag in a unit of western CO. I've hunted 4th season CO cow elk a few times, so I'm not a complete beginner, but I'm hunting a brand new area to me, and I wanted to ping the forum for some general ideas.
Generally, I'm wondering what y'all have found to be an effective strategy for hunting the Thanksgiving time of year. I've shot two in the last few years in this season, in a different unit, and both were fairly high elevation - about 9500', in spruce/fir/aspen vegetation. The second time had recently been snowed on, and had maybe 6" in shaded areas. I remember noting how surprised I was to realize that they were still up at that elevation, given the low temps and a decent amount of snow accumulation. From those years of experience, my general strategy formulated into something like:
"Go high - 8-10k' - or until snow is too deep to move around easily, but some snow on the ground is not bad. Find vantage points from which you can glass lots of country (esp. sunrise and sunset), including steep, nasty draws, and look especially for south facing slopes with sun and feed. Also keep an eye out for fresh tracks if in the snow. These areas probably have less hunting pressure, too."
But the fact is, I don't really know if this strategy generalizes well to other areas - maybe I just keyed in on a good few draws in the unit I had been hunting, that happen to hold elk at that time of year? I also know that another common strategy that time of year is to focus on lower-elevation areas, possibly near ag/private land. Personally, for this new area, I'm torn between focusing on lower elevation areas (mostly juniper and sage, in the 6-7k' elevation range) or higher (8-9k', in the pine/spruce/fir/aspen areas). (I find that the elevation between, in CO, is a big oak thicket that is nearly impossible to move around, though maybe there is a good way to hunt this, too?) Of course I know I can choose one and move if I don't have luck (or weather might make the choice for me, if we get some big storms).
What do y'all think? What has worked for you? Happy to hear any and all advice. Stories always appreciated.
