Tired of Colorado Deadfall

[JohnMorris]

I have a few days left this season and have had it with this northern Colorado deadfall. Are there any OTC units besides Southern Colorado that don't have it as bad as 17. My ankles will thank you.

 

[raptor16]

You might not like the beetle kill, but the elk often do. The trick is getting lucky enough to walk through the right hell hole that they’re still in.

As far as other units apart from southern CO, not really any specifically. Areas with Aspens often don’t have as much deadfall unless they’ve been hit by strong winds.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Deadfall from beetle kill is pretty bad in Southern Colorado too fyi. So bad that the USFS attempted to make a Wilderness Act exemption last year to allow chainsaw usage in order to clear it all from the trails.

 

[Northpark]

Unless you are in low elevation ponderosa pine country you will be in beetle kill. Just the name of the game at this point. You can try some of the lower sage brush country but with the current temps there won’t be as many elk. Some elk just not as many.

 

[Bearsears]

Amen! Colorado deadfall jungle gyms are the norm pretty much all over the state now. I here Idaho forests are much better

 

[AaronMColeman]

I love terrible terrain! The worse the better. That’s where the elk are

It’s sucks but the elk love tough to get to places. I embrace it and love it.

 

[Next Ridge]

Plenty of deadfall in southern Colorado OTC...echo previous comment, that is often where the elk are, especially now. It sucks but you have to go into those areas to find them sometimes

 

[Bearsears]

It really is amazing how big bulls can sneak through that stuff. Last year we had a bull sneak right in on us in some really nasty deadfall without making a sound. We got up to leave thinking nothing was around and he busted out from maybe 15 yards.

 

[kentuckybowman]

as many hunters as there are in 17 i thought by now they would have cut it all up for firewood.

 

[Yooper]

My legs are a punctured, scratched and scraped up bloody mess from that deadfall last week! But, like a few guys said above, that's where we found the elk that wanted to talk in CO OTC. There's a certain level of mental preparedness to get ready for that stuff every day.

 

[Gerbdog]

Deadfall is a hunting way of life now in CO, ill continue to embrace it and rip all my hunting pants on it

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

I wear gaiters almost year round for this very reason. Keeps my over priced hunting pants intact when I do the daily dead fall gymnastics routine...As others have stated, while it does suck, climbing through enough of those hell holes will put you into elk. Sometimes that’s easier said than done haha!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[trophyhill]

dont kid yourself, southern Colorado has plenty of deadfall. been climbing over it since Sept 1. I'm afraid you'll have to move further south. like central NM and on down to avoid miles of deadfall

 

[gelton]

I have found that the higher you go the worse it gets just no way around it really. I have taken a pretty bad spill once while hunting solo. It's a bit worrying that one of those dead branches could impale you during a fall if you are not careful. As much as it sucks it does provide a good bedding area for elk, but you are never going to stalk up on one in that stuff.

The only real remedy is a good fire.

 

[Ucsdryder]

It’s all fun and games, but be careful. It can be more than an annoyance if you land on one of those broken off branches!

 

[jdmaxwell]

If you can't handle dead fall elk hunting, look for new sport.

 

[Elkfitness]

Ain’t that the truth! The worst is after a heavy snow and you can’t see what’s what.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4rcgoat]

It really is amazing how big bulls can sneak through that stuff. Last year we had a bull sneak right in on us in some really nasty deadfall without making a sound. We got up to leave thinking nothing was around and he busted out from maybe 15 yards.

Story of my life right there

 

[5MilesBack]

The worst deadfall I've ever hunted in was before CO even had a beetle kill problem.....and I always loved every minute of it. As an example, here's a pic of a place I hunted before beetle kill was there. Even in the 80's it was really bad in places, and we'd never even heard of beetle kill back then.

 

[Bearsears]

Yup. Decades/generations of crap forest management.