OK, this is about OTC units in Colorado that are heavily hunted. I am self employed and can rarely find the time to take multiple days off in a row and travel to what I know would be a better unit so I am stuck with what I got.
Been archery elk hunting 4 years now and have been visiting the same relative area that I can access from my home with a 1.5 to 2 hour drive. I know there are elk there but I believe they are in small groups and are spread out widely. I've been getting pretty educated with the lay of the land and where everything is in the area. I also tag every fresh pile of poop, any fresh rub and any carcass I find on OnX so that I can look to see if there are any patterns.
Season 1 had a large bull elk run across an open meadow 200 yds downhill from me while I was stuffing my face with a sandwich during lunch at 1:00, threw my shit together and ran downhill in to the woods behind him, heard some crashing going on and eventually list him, that was my only experience that season.
Season 2 had a coupe different days where I heard them in the woods, got some cow responses to a cow call one morning at first shooting light then everything went quiet at sunrise and I never caught up to them and on another day while walking a ridge at first light I was getting some responses to a cow call as well as an elk came in behind me and as I turned around to move to my left where the terrain was more conducive to getting a shot it spun around crashing back in to he trees, all I saw was it's ass end disappearing through the brush.
Season 3 wildfire smoke everywhere, never saw or heard an elk nor found fresh sign the entire season.
Season 4 (this year) first two days of the season I went to the same area and saw zero fresh sign and heard 2 other hunters bugling. I decided to go back to the maps and really look things over. This entire unit has roadways and ATV trails everywhere, I decided to ignore that fact (I had been trying to get away from the roads as far as possible previously) and simply look at terrain features along with water and food sources and chose another spot a couple miles away. All 4 days I have been in there I have found fresh dropping that are not more than a day or so old, step on it and it is still green inside and easily squishes under your food and yesterday was on some that was still green and still wet as well as there were fresh wet spots of urine on the ground. So I tracked the elk a ways finding occasional prints and scuff marks but the wind was blowing the same general direction as their direction of travel so I bailed and decided to follow the tracks to see where they came from to see if it backed up a hunch I had about the location of a watering area and meadow on the backside of the mountain that I think they travel from up over this saddle to where I found the sign and yes they came over that saddle area as well as on that saddle there is an old mine site and the tailings pile was torn up with elk tracks and smelled like elk. I hung out most of the afternoon and was planning on staying in to the evening except the wind was gusty and was shifting every direction and it never settled down. I decided to back out at around 4:00 thinking it was likely a lost cause and sitting there may cause more harm than good and would come back on Friday.
So.. where to go with this. In Colorado everyone says not to call in heavily hunted OTC units because the elk are schooled and they will never come in. Some say to bugle all you want, some say to let out a few soft cow calls now and then, some people say sit over a water source, some say to hike all day until you find them. This area is all timber, no glassing possible.
I feel like I have them down to a general area, they are there though it is probably a smallish group of them. Looking at OnX where I have found and marked sign along with where I think they are feeding and drinking and travelling this saddle and where I have a hunch they may be bedding is my best bet to sit at either daybreak or late evening somewhere along this route and simply cow call? If you are doing this what does that look like? Simply let out a cow call every minute or two for an hour? Are you just sitting in one spot or are you slowly still hunting while doing this? Thinking of coming up the mountain at daybreak further down the road which should be downwind and travelling through the area where I think they may be bedding and slowly work my way towards the saddle. With a full moon and clear skies right now they are likely full on nocturnal and not moving around much during daylight.
So far this year I have yet to hear a single mew or bugle.
Seems like a ton of options and each one is a crapshoot.
Been archery elk hunting 4 years now and have been visiting the same relative area that I can access from my home with a 1.5 to 2 hour drive. I know there are elk there but I believe they are in small groups and are spread out widely. I've been getting pretty educated with the lay of the land and where everything is in the area. I also tag every fresh pile of poop, any fresh rub and any carcass I find on OnX so that I can look to see if there are any patterns.
Season 1 had a large bull elk run across an open meadow 200 yds downhill from me while I was stuffing my face with a sandwich during lunch at 1:00, threw my shit together and ran downhill in to the woods behind him, heard some crashing going on and eventually list him, that was my only experience that season.
Season 2 had a coupe different days where I heard them in the woods, got some cow responses to a cow call one morning at first shooting light then everything went quiet at sunrise and I never caught up to them and on another day while walking a ridge at first light I was getting some responses to a cow call as well as an elk came in behind me and as I turned around to move to my left where the terrain was more conducive to getting a shot it spun around crashing back in to he trees, all I saw was it's ass end disappearing through the brush.
Season 3 wildfire smoke everywhere, never saw or heard an elk nor found fresh sign the entire season.
Season 4 (this year) first two days of the season I went to the same area and saw zero fresh sign and heard 2 other hunters bugling. I decided to go back to the maps and really look things over. This entire unit has roadways and ATV trails everywhere, I decided to ignore that fact (I had been trying to get away from the roads as far as possible previously) and simply look at terrain features along with water and food sources and chose another spot a couple miles away. All 4 days I have been in there I have found fresh dropping that are not more than a day or so old, step on it and it is still green inside and easily squishes under your food and yesterday was on some that was still green and still wet as well as there were fresh wet spots of urine on the ground. So I tracked the elk a ways finding occasional prints and scuff marks but the wind was blowing the same general direction as their direction of travel so I bailed and decided to follow the tracks to see where they came from to see if it backed up a hunch I had about the location of a watering area and meadow on the backside of the mountain that I think they travel from up over this saddle to where I found the sign and yes they came over that saddle area as well as on that saddle there is an old mine site and the tailings pile was torn up with elk tracks and smelled like elk. I hung out most of the afternoon and was planning on staying in to the evening except the wind was gusty and was shifting every direction and it never settled down. I decided to back out at around 4:00 thinking it was likely a lost cause and sitting there may cause more harm than good and would come back on Friday.
So.. where to go with this. In Colorado everyone says not to call in heavily hunted OTC units because the elk are schooled and they will never come in. Some say to bugle all you want, some say to let out a few soft cow calls now and then, some people say sit over a water source, some say to hike all day until you find them. This area is all timber, no glassing possible.
I feel like I have them down to a general area, they are there though it is probably a smallish group of them. Looking at OnX where I have found and marked sign along with where I think they are feeding and drinking and travelling this saddle and where I have a hunch they may be bedding is my best bet to sit at either daybreak or late evening somewhere along this route and simply cow call? If you are doing this what does that look like? Simply let out a cow call every minute or two for an hour? Are you just sitting in one spot or are you slowly still hunting while doing this? Thinking of coming up the mountain at daybreak further down the road which should be downwind and travelling through the area where I think they may be bedding and slowly work my way towards the saddle. With a full moon and clear skies right now they are likely full on nocturnal and not moving around much during daylight.
So far this year I have yet to hear a single mew or bugle.
Seems like a ton of options and each one is a crapshoot.
