To many Spots ?!?!

[Whitetail Ridge Runner]

Is there such a thing as having to many spots picked out for Archery season ? Being our first year in Colorado we have been studying maps for to long and have multiple spots picked out in different units. With a few days to scout and 2 weeks to hunt, we wanted to stay mobile and open to whatever peaks our interest. Or should be just pick one unit and pick it to death ? As of right now we are just gonna try and figure it out as we go and hopefully stumble into some Elk.

 

[spike camp]

Are the units close to one another?
With a few scouting days, and 2 weeks of hunting...you have a lot of time and I’d suggest starting with your plan A and keep working down the list until you get into them!

 

[trophyhill]

Trust me......you cannot have enough back up plans when hunting OTC. Your plan to be/stay mobile is a good one. I prefer truck camp over Backcountry when hunting OTC just because of the possibility of crowds encountered in the Backcountry....if using a 4 wheeler or small side by side, you have an advantage over those who don't as far as being mobile goes

 

[Fridaythe13th]

Our 1st archery hunt we had 1 unit picked but we had a potential 8 camping sites and many miles to hunt. We landed on campsite #3 and have been happy the last 5 years. But we had 6 people and a base camp. We found elk on day 2. Find them, play the wind, dont blow them out of the zone.

 

[idahohikker]

Don’t get married to a spot no matter how elky it looks. Put an elk down, pattern them, or move on after a couple days max.

 

[Scooter90254]

No such thing as too many spots. Generally speaking for us it takes us 2-3 spots before we even start hunting. I’m either a terrible e-scouter or it’s just not that effective.

First time ever hunting Colorado we spent hours studying and found a perfect looking spot for the 2nd week of archery. Had this massive day by day plan mapped out.

We drove 15 miles down an old logging road were it opened up into the trail head. We come around the corner and it looks like one of those 3 days electronic music festivals. Tents, generators, drunks, the whole deal.....lol

 

[cnelk]

You can actually have too many spots. Which was my case last year opening day.
I chose wrong

 

[5MilesBack]

I always have plan A through whatever plan I think I might need as backups.......even if those other plans are 200 miles away from plan A.

 

[Catahoula]

I concur, having a few areas no matter the size is a good plan. Even the small pockets many walk by hold elk/deer. Good luck.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

No such thing as to many spots. This spring on my bear hunt, I had to go to plan L! Between the road closures due to flooding, unexpected/illegal locked gates, and amount of snow above 8,000’, it was chaos and if I didn’t have a ton of spots marked, would of wasted a lot of time. This is even more so with elk. You should know if you’re in elk within the day, if not, keep going down the list. You never know what obstacles you are going to run into if you haven’t been able to scout boots on the ground, it’s good to be over prepared!

 

[bmf0713]

I was thinking this same thing. My onx map of the area i am hunting is starting to look like a bowl of fruity pebbles with all the different color waypoints i have on there. I'm gonna try to narrow it down to 10 spots. A couple low elevation spots for the first day or 2, a couple of nasty spots and a couple of easy off trail/road hunting spots if we get wore out or elevation starts to bother us. Like a couple of others said, without boots on the ground scouting its hard to tell. So when i get to the area i wanna hunt everytrhing might go out the window.

 

[ElkNut1]

You'll most likely have your elk down within 3 of your chosen spots! With that said you cannot have too many spots to check out, one will pay off if not multiple ones!

I hunt a couple OTC elk units & have over 40 spots I can check out at anytime, I'm still adding to them every year! (grin)

ElkNut/Paul

 

[rokclmb]

Curious to know what folks consider a "Spot" How far away from your A spot is your B, C, D, etc. Spot? If my A spot is a bust, but I have another location in same unit that is 1 mile away, is that a B spot or still part of A?

Basically, how far apart should the be to be considered separate spots?

 

[BK Ammenwerth]

It can be as close as the next aim drainage or 2 hrs away. The name of the game is finding elk. Only then can you kill one. Have as many backup plans as possible because when boots hit the ground it may look nothing like you thought it did e scouting. Furthermore you will be blown away how much longer you thinking hiking from point A to point B actually will take. Be mobile and versatile but don’t bite off more than you can chew.

 

[rokclmb]

To clarify a bit on my question, lets assume you're on foot and want to stick to one unit. @ElkNut1, What are your thoughts on distance between spots. You mentioned you have over 40 you can check out. How many are you capable of checking in a day, assuming you're on foot. Is it as simple as your B spot is on the other side of the ridge as your A spot? As an example: I have several "spots" marked on my OnX maps that are within 2 miles of my primary "A" location (2 square mile area I know very well and consistently get into elk). Would you consider those B, C, D spots etc. or are they still part of your A?

 

[ElkNut1]

Tough question bud! When I've chosen an area to hunt that's where I'm hunting at least to mid afternoon. In most cases most of the day. Each area I have is totally separate from the other. Some are basically across the road from where I'm hunting that morning or evening. You must realize though that these are Huge areas I hunt, I can cover miles in most of them & terrain is all rough & steep.

Some areas are 1/2 mile away but in totally different areas, most are miles away & some as far as 25 miles apart by road. I generally have to come back to the rig & relocate to get into another spot to hunt. Only a couple are just crossing a road to the other side! Again, these areas are huge & take hours to hunt & call looking for a bull. Hope this helps!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[GregB]

Last year I found being mobile was a big key to success. I run a very light camp so I can move areas, and set up quickly. 2 person backpacking tent with a pad and bag and a Coleman stove. If there are no elk it only takes a few minutes to pack up and drive to the next one and a few minutes set up again. The night before I killed my elk last year I decided to go to the other side of the unit, around midnight ended up sleeping on a turnout on the side of the highway because I was getting too tired to drive.
I have at least one area to hunt per day and then try to plan out which one I'm going to hit each day based on which one I think is most likely to have elk and a somewhat logical sequence so I'm not driving from one side of a unit to the other every day.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Always good to have a number of backup spots. Your first and second options may change due to hunting pressure, fire closures, etc

 

[ElkNut1]

One thing for myself that should be considered is I'm not just hunting for myself, I go on hunts with 5-7 different guys every year & do most the calling. Therefore I need lots of areas to consider, it's OTC & very much Hit & Miss but rarely do we strike out! (grin)

ElkNut/Paul

 

[teamsprock]

"the elk are where you find them" never hurts to have options!