Planning our 2nd CO elk hunt for 2017. What did we do wrong in 2015?

[W.D. Crawford]

One thing to consider, harvesting an elk any elk takes time in the field. It is as simple as that. I don't think I would give up on 15, as stated before you already have experience in that unit don't waste it.

 

[dotman]

Your saying that more of the weminuche wilderness is located in 76 than all the other units combined?

Not what I'm trying to say but may have said I guess. What I should say is most areas outside of 76 are crazy rugged and a long hike in that most wouldn't understand unless they have been there. 78 would be the easiest access but give you the smallest portion of it to hunt In all units the WA is within.

I hunt the Pagosa area (78 mainly) and don't always consider the Durango or Silverton side when I think about it but I have a feeling the op would change his plan before reaching the WA border if hiking on the 75 or 751 units.

 

[MuleyFever]

I don't think that how far from camp you are hunting is relevant without considering where your camp is. I was only hunting deer last season but easily glassed up elk from a couple hundred yards from my tent on multiple days.

 

[justinspicher]

Not what I'm trying to say but may have said I guess. What I should say is most areas outside of 76 are crazy rugged and a long hike in that most wouldn't understand unless they have been there. 78 would be the easiest access but give you the smallest portion of it to hunt In all units the WA is within.

I hunt the Pagosa area (78 mainly) and don't always consider the Durango or Silverton side when I think about it but I have a feeling the op would change his plan before reaching the WA border if hiking on the 75 or 751 units.

This is an accurate statement. I work in the Wenimuche during the summer and it's a haul to get anywhere, regardless of the direction you come from.

 

[Brendan]

I'll add a couple things, but can't help with CO specifically.

My spike camp was surrounded by Elk for the first week of my hunt this year. I didn't leave camp until shortly before it got light because I wanted to hunt those elk and not bump them in the dark. I've also had to get up at 2:30 in the morning and start hiking to be where I wanted to be at 6:40 first light. There is no hard and fast rule, but you want to be where the Elk are (or as close as you can be without bumping them) before it starts to get light. That is tough if you don't know where they are. That means covering ground looking for sign, and calling at night to locate. To be honest - finding Elk in a situation like this (in my opinion going into my 4th year) is the hardest damn thing about Elk hunting. If I had to improve one thing in my "quiver" - this would be it.

Also - going that early in the season there's a chance you hear no, or very little, bugling. That leaves you with spot and stalk, or cold calling setups. I personally have had almost no luck with spot/stalk, but that's probably the area I was hunting - the Elk were almost all in the timber during daylight. Cold Calling - I have had several bulls come in completely silent as long as 45 minutes after I started my calling sequence - so it's something to study up on, and you also have to commit to it and stay long enough for it to work. If you want to get into calling - subscribe to Chris Roe's site, and buy some of Elknut's material. Different methods, but they work for the people who commit to them and provide different perspectives.

 

[xziang]

15 is rather interesting. I've got experience there too although I didn't kill anything I did have a good time. I had about the same experience as yourself however did see a couple nice elk come out the week I was there. One reason I didn't care for it, it was rather dark timber where I was at with a few BIG meadows that served as an ambush point. I was also there early in the season and everything was quiet.

 

[Finch]

Ok, so maybe we should rethink hunting unit 15 again. Obviously there are elk there but we just couldn't get on em. I also like the idea of picking a completely new spot and going in blind (thats the explorer in me although it may not be the smartest move).

I did subscribe to Chris Roe's site last year and will probably do so again this year. I learned a lot.

Thanks again guys!

 

[rayporter]

that desire to see whats on the other hill can sure be strong.

 

[Hayguide]

Its best to pick an area that has Elk, fine tune your approach and keep going back. I didn't see anything about outside things out of your control effecting your hunt. (Like other hunters or hikers) I agree with finding the best spot for camp based on elk activity-fresh sign. Once you find elk, if you don't bump them and wait for your chance without pushing things- you can kill them. I would not watch the TV shows on private land hunts selling products-its a different world. I don't bugle anymore. I hunt SW Colorado-same area for 7 years. I don't see a bunch of Elk, I don't need to. All I need is one. If I hear bugling and see sign-I'm gonna be very careful on how I leave camp to hunt. Every year its a better hunt for me, Knowing the terrain and the safe areas to travel without bumping elk is huge. The key is water and feed for me. If things are green in the Parks, water in the cricks and my area is not running with free range cattle-Im good. I can find the elk. Good Luck

 

[bz_711]

My buddy and I's schedules work out for 2017 for another elk hunt. We have off from Sept 2nd - 14th so we'll spend a couple days driving and start our hunt on Sept 4th, Labor Day. We'll have a solid 8 days of hunting. We have already decided that we do NOT want to hunt Unit 15 in the Sarvis Creek WA - we only saw one cow during our entire hunt in 2015. We were hunting as high as we could (10,400) in the area we chose. The elk weren't talking and the temps were in the 60's during the day. We'll be backpacking again on this upcoming hunt.

Things we possibly did wrong:

- We never left camp before sunrise because we felt like we were in an "elky" area.
- We hunted out of camp each morning.
- We stayed out all day and never returned to camp during mid-day.(good thing)
- At dark, we were never really that far from camp.
- I bugled in the mornings and a little throughout the day hoping to entice a bull our way - no dice.

We have briefly spoke about hunting southern CO - maybe something bordering New Mexico. I just saw where someone else posted about the Weminuche WA - I'll have to look into that. I really stressed in 2015 picking a unit to hunt. I emailed several wardens, call the hunt planners, spoke to a warden and eventually decided on unit 15. I feel like I let my buddy down since he kinda left it up to me to pick a spot. I want that to change for our next hunt. Also, he hopes to be able to glass some on our next hunt. We never really were in a spot to sit and glass.

Since we have one hunt under our belts, we don't have to worry about the ins/outs of gear and all the other unknowns of elk hunting that we had a couple years back. All there really is to focus on is staying in shape, staying sharp on our shooting, bettering our calling techniques, and picking a damn spot to hunt.

I'm not looking for honey holes, GPS coordinates, or anything close. Really just hoping to hear from some that have first hand knowledge of some possible areas we can check out. Also, does anything really stick out that we did wrong? We really just want to get into some elk in order to gain more experience. I think we'd both be satisfied with any legal elk this early in our elk hunting careers.

Thanks,
Donnie

btw: I thought the below pic was appropriate for a site named "Rokslide"

View attachment 44703

Donnie - I'm glad to see you guys planning next trip!
I'm just going to throw my .02 cents in after reading your post.
With you already making the statement that you have decided you don't want to go back to 15, I'd say do not go back. If you only thought you'd be elk hunting one more time in life, I'd maybe suggest going back for familiarity, but I think mentally you both need to try something else...then you can make a call on where to go that next time (3rd trip). Confidence is huge - do what makes you most confident.
I don't see anything you guys did wrong, you were prepared...after that it's finding the elk and staying downwind...the finding the elk can be a chore as you know.

PM if you want to discuss anything or compare any notes. For the first time our group is having discussion as well about trying a new unit. We love our current camp - but there is no arguing that there are less elk in that area than there was 5-7 years ago. The one benefit of having anywhere from 8-20+ guys sharing camp each year we get some good feedback on elk sightings, sign, shot opportunities, etc. I also feel CO in general may be down in herd sizes in many areas compared to 10 years ago - so in no way do we think moving units will solve our problem, we just wonder if it's time to try something new, see new country, and possibly just come back every/other year to current camp as we do love the area and the friends we've made.

Do what makes you guys most confident!

 

[Finch]

Its best to pick an area that has Elk, fine tune your approach and keep going back. I didn't see anything about outside things out of your control effecting your hunt. (Like other hunters or hikers) I agree with finding the best spot for camp based on elk activity-fresh sign. Once you find elk, if you don't bump them and wait for your chance without pushing things- you can kill them. I would not watch the TV shows on private land hunts selling products-its a different world. I don't bugle anymore. I hunt SW Colorado-same area for 7 years. I don't see a bunch of Elk, I don't need to. All I need is one. If I hear bugling and see sign-I'm gonna be very careful on how I leave camp to hunt. Every year its a better hunt for me, Knowing the terrain and the safe areas to travel without bumping elk is huge. The key is water and feed for me. If things are green in the Parks, water in the cricks and my area is not running with free range cattle-Im good. I can find the elk. Good Luck

Thank you for the advice!

Matt - thanks for the advice as well. I'll take you up on the PM when I have a bit more time. My buddy and I have since talked about going back to 15 and we are considering. There's still so much to see of 15 and we just scratched the surface. I don't know, it's something we have a bit of time to decide.