wmccormick65
FNG
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2026
- Messages
- 6
Allow me to preface all this by saying that I am not asking for spot advice, jumping off points, etc... I know everyone always says they're not looking for honey holes but I really am not!
Now that all that has been said what I am seeking is some knowledge if you're willing to share. I need some better education on how to hunt these things. And also seeking some advice on possibly trying a whole new area. We really like south-central areas (who deosent as pretty as they are?).
I know everyone says pick a terrain and a style that best suits you and go, well were still brand new to it and ignorant so we're willing to dive in head first to just about any terrain (even if its over our head as we learned last season lol).
People also say now that you have knowledge of a unit stick with it and continue to learn it. But if we didn't see anything are we really out much by moving spots?
2025 recap
My son (16 now) and I went last year for our first elk hunt and first western hunt period in Colorado. Went with an easy to draw 1st rifle tag on the Grand Mesa. I had a bull tag and he had a cow tag. We had a blast, got our butts whooped and had the time of our lives together. We got there a few days early and scouted but still didn't see a single elk other than on the way there and the way home. I know there are many reasons for this. Some I've learned are
1. I severely underestimated the importance of being at a spot we can glass from before or by first light/last light. We hunted them like giant deer but that's all I know. I have zero friends or family that elk or western hunt, so we are complete noobs. Learning all I can from forums and YouTube. I also severely underestimated how hard it is to get a teenager out of his sleeping bag on time lol.
2. Alot of what we thought we'd be able to glass (as seen on satellite) we learned on day one was not the case. Miles of head-high oak brush. We quickly leaned there could have been 200 elk within a hundred yard radius and we wouldn't have been able to see hide or hair of them.
3. We were limited to where we could hunt. Yes our tag granted access to miles and miles of country we would have never had enough time to see even if we changed areas every day. But unfortunately, my truck went down about 2 weeks before we were supposed to leave so I had to take my wife's. Hers is 2 wheel drive and wouldn't you know the day before we arrived some historic rainfalls occurred and also our first scouting day it rained all day long. One idiot in a pipelining rig at the camp spent about 2 hours tearing up the road and camp by repeatedly spinning all four tires in an attempt to make it out to the main road in what can only be described usually as a monkey doing inappropriate things with a football. After witnessing this debacle I knew we weren't going anywhere for the next few days until the roads dried up. So we made the best of it and tried different areas we could access from our camp.
-We did see one bear (a long ways away).
-We saw probably 100 mule deer during the week, had a group of 7 does at 5 yds feeding in front of us (we had the wind). Saw a few bucks, one huge body with a mediocre rack (so big we briefly thought it was a cow elk when we first spotted it).
-We did find some super fresh elk sign after the rain but it was alone. Found alot of roughly week to 2 week old sign.
-Other than scouting days we didn't see a single hunter other than one morning a few miles away two ridges over. You would have never guessed this by the amount of vehicles and horse trailers at the trailhead. Luckily the trailhead we camped at was by foot or horse only.
The next to last day of season when we and almost everyone else around at that trailhead were tearing down camp we learned the game warden (I know that's not their official title in CO) stopped by a few evenings before. She had left by the time we got back to camp, by this point our hikes in and out were about 3 hrs. But even she said it was a slow year, she had only checked in like 3 bulls.
1 guy and his brother-in-law only saw 3 cows on a scouting day and nothing else the rest of the week. Another guy spent the week driving to new spots everyday and glassing what he could from the roads on all available units with that tag and all he saw was some spikes. We did get lucky and get some local intel when a rancher that lives down the road and runs cattle in that area came up to ask if we had been hunting way up high and if we had seen any of his cows, he was still missing around 10. After picking his brain on how to hunt the oak brush and learning he got his bull opening morning about 10mi in by horse, he actually ended up dropping us a few pins on OnX after learning my boy had his cow tag. We hunted that evening where he told us with no luck but we were both still extremely grateful for the knowledge share. He and his wife were very friendly and helpful also.
Right now my biggest questions are.......
-If you hunt an area with a ton of oak brush like what I referenced earlier, what do you look for or key in on that helps you really narrow down where these things are that time of year?
-If the whole area is nasty thick and alot of it inaccessible, how do you find what they prefer (ie. the spot within the spot?)
-In an area like this where elevation more or less tops out around 10,5 do you find the old adage of "they're up high" still applies? Alot of people I have seen say they're all on private but I refuse to believe every single elk killed in 1st rifle last year was only killed on private. People kill them every year on public.
-What's your go to tactic for 1st rifle and finding the elk?
-How long are you spending in one area (say 1 specific ridge where you can cover 2 drainages and some aspens) before you determine it's probably not gonna happen and move on to the next? 1 full day (morning and evening) ????
Thanks everyone!
-Wes
Now that all that has been said what I am seeking is some knowledge if you're willing to share. I need some better education on how to hunt these things. And also seeking some advice on possibly trying a whole new area. We really like south-central areas (who deosent as pretty as they are?).
I know everyone says pick a terrain and a style that best suits you and go, well were still brand new to it and ignorant so we're willing to dive in head first to just about any terrain (even if its over our head as we learned last season lol).
People also say now that you have knowledge of a unit stick with it and continue to learn it. But if we didn't see anything are we really out much by moving spots?
2025 recap
My son (16 now) and I went last year for our first elk hunt and first western hunt period in Colorado. Went with an easy to draw 1st rifle tag on the Grand Mesa. I had a bull tag and he had a cow tag. We had a blast, got our butts whooped and had the time of our lives together. We got there a few days early and scouted but still didn't see a single elk other than on the way there and the way home. I know there are many reasons for this. Some I've learned are
1. I severely underestimated the importance of being at a spot we can glass from before or by first light/last light. We hunted them like giant deer but that's all I know. I have zero friends or family that elk or western hunt, so we are complete noobs. Learning all I can from forums and YouTube. I also severely underestimated how hard it is to get a teenager out of his sleeping bag on time lol.
2. Alot of what we thought we'd be able to glass (as seen on satellite) we learned on day one was not the case. Miles of head-high oak brush. We quickly leaned there could have been 200 elk within a hundred yard radius and we wouldn't have been able to see hide or hair of them.
3. We were limited to where we could hunt. Yes our tag granted access to miles and miles of country we would have never had enough time to see even if we changed areas every day. But unfortunately, my truck went down about 2 weeks before we were supposed to leave so I had to take my wife's. Hers is 2 wheel drive and wouldn't you know the day before we arrived some historic rainfalls occurred and also our first scouting day it rained all day long. One idiot in a pipelining rig at the camp spent about 2 hours tearing up the road and camp by repeatedly spinning all four tires in an attempt to make it out to the main road in what can only be described usually as a monkey doing inappropriate things with a football. After witnessing this debacle I knew we weren't going anywhere for the next few days until the roads dried up. So we made the best of it and tried different areas we could access from our camp.
-We did see one bear (a long ways away).
-We saw probably 100 mule deer during the week, had a group of 7 does at 5 yds feeding in front of us (we had the wind). Saw a few bucks, one huge body with a mediocre rack (so big we briefly thought it was a cow elk when we first spotted it).
-We did find some super fresh elk sign after the rain but it was alone. Found alot of roughly week to 2 week old sign.
-Other than scouting days we didn't see a single hunter other than one morning a few miles away two ridges over. You would have never guessed this by the amount of vehicles and horse trailers at the trailhead. Luckily the trailhead we camped at was by foot or horse only.
The next to last day of season when we and almost everyone else around at that trailhead were tearing down camp we learned the game warden (I know that's not their official title in CO) stopped by a few evenings before. She had left by the time we got back to camp, by this point our hikes in and out were about 3 hrs. But even she said it was a slow year, she had only checked in like 3 bulls.
1 guy and his brother-in-law only saw 3 cows on a scouting day and nothing else the rest of the week. Another guy spent the week driving to new spots everyday and glassing what he could from the roads on all available units with that tag and all he saw was some spikes. We did get lucky and get some local intel when a rancher that lives down the road and runs cattle in that area came up to ask if we had been hunting way up high and if we had seen any of his cows, he was still missing around 10. After picking his brain on how to hunt the oak brush and learning he got his bull opening morning about 10mi in by horse, he actually ended up dropping us a few pins on OnX after learning my boy had his cow tag. We hunted that evening where he told us with no luck but we were both still extremely grateful for the knowledge share. He and his wife were very friendly and helpful also.
Right now my biggest questions are.......
-If you hunt an area with a ton of oak brush like what I referenced earlier, what do you look for or key in on that helps you really narrow down where these things are that time of year?
-If the whole area is nasty thick and alot of it inaccessible, how do you find what they prefer (ie. the spot within the spot?)
-In an area like this where elevation more or less tops out around 10,5 do you find the old adage of "they're up high" still applies? Alot of people I have seen say they're all on private but I refuse to believe every single elk killed in 1st rifle last year was only killed on private. People kill them every year on public.
-What's your go to tactic for 1st rifle and finding the elk?
-How long are you spending in one area (say 1 specific ridge where you can cover 2 drainages and some aspens) before you determine it's probably not gonna happen and move on to the next? 1 full day (morning and evening) ????
Thanks everyone!
-Wes
