Which do you think is hunted harder OTC archery or Rifle in CO

[Luked]

Just a curious question.
My brther and I were talking about this a few nights ago. I know that CO has multiple seasons for rifle. But which do you think has the most hunters in the field. Archery or Rifle 1st season.
Friend and myself hunted an OTC unit in 22 and we saw a few people but I wouldnt say it was crazy with people. But have heard some here say that Archery any more is worse for people than Rifle.
Do you think it is a difference in the weather?
Just curious on what some of you think.

 

[Squirrel Master]

I've never been in rifle season, but archery season in the unit I have hunted was pretty busy.

 

[MallardSX2]

Never been rifle hunting for elk.

I mean, you're hunting with a rifle. If you see them under 500 yards (or in some people's cases much further than that), you can pretty much kill them. Which is why I have never rifle hunted elk. I don't want that experience. I want bugling and I want the interaction. I would put rifle hunting elk on par with shooting a turkey with a 22-250....it boils down to personal preference.

Nothing against anyone who hunts elk with a rifle. I just don't know if I will ever do it.

 

[Dos Perros]

This data is published.

 

[Overdrive]

From my personal experience over the last several years of hunting and guiding in Colorado, I would opt for 1st rifle. It's a draw which helps limit how many people are out in the woods. You can look up the stats for the area/unit you're looking at online for the amount of licenses given. Plus I've heard more bugling and witnessed more rutting activity during 1st rifle lately.

Seems the archery hunters in the area I'm in, feel they need to start everyday with a lip bawl bugle and continue to do so all day long. It has really silenced the elk compared to 15 years ago. I stopped archery hunting years ago when the craze started picking up so much, I don't get a lot of time to hunt so I generally go later like 3rd or 4th so I can find the bulls that are secluded after the rut.

The weather hit perfect this last year 1st season, a little snow and colder and I saw hundreds of elk guiding and my guys filled out by the 3rd day of their 5 day hunt.

 

[AG8]

Well if you’re looking for a direct comparison, you want to look at archery vs 2nd rifle. Equally crowded in my experiences. No OTC in 1st, thus generally less crowded. All depends where you go of course

 

[Fever Buck]

I hunted Unit 62 for Archery and the Meeker Units for 1st rifle. I honestly felt that archery was more crowded which I felt prior to be impossible after seeing the Zoo at Meeker.

 

[gelton]

IME archery is usually more crowded than rifle.

 

[Laelkhunter]

I would think that OTC rifle is more crowded. It seems there is an orange blob every 50 feet on the mountainside, and some of the rifle hunters are not as dedicated as the archery hunters, so they just show up and expect to kill an elk with little preparation (I said some).
The archery hunters seem to be more dedicated in that they practice a lot more, and are more concerned with camo clothing, face painting, scent control and stealth hunting instead of brush busting like a rifle hunter bugling every 50 feet waiting for a bull to respond. Not sure though, I never archery hunted elk, only OTC rifle mostly 2nd rifle season, so I can't relate to the amount of hunters in the woods for archery season.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Just a curious question.
My brther and I were talking about this a few nights ago. I know that CO has multiple seasons for rifle. But which do you think has the most hunters in the field. Archery or Rifle 1st season.
Friend and myself hunted an OTC unit in 22 and we saw a few people but I wouldnt say it was crazy with people. But have heard some here say that Archery any more is worse for people than Rifle.
Do you think it is a difference in the weather?
Just curious on what some of you think.

Archery

 

[justinspicher]

I get to see every single season where I live in colorado, my units down here are a draw for archery, but everyone gets a tag. NR folks are everywhere, mainly due to the weather. During rifle season you’ll see folk during the opening weekend, but after that the amount of folks usually fades.

 

[cnelk]

To the OP

There’s units in Colorado where you can buy a B List archery cow tag and then get another B List cow tag for 1st Season in the same year.

Maybe you should try those tags and get first hand knowledge and get back to us with the results.

 

[poboy2214]

I hunted Unit 62 for Archery and the Meeker Units for 1st rifle. I honestly felt that archery was more crowded which I felt prior to be impossible after seeing the Zoo at Meeker.

That’s nuts since I know what those meeker units are like during first rifle!

 

[poboy2214]

I guess it probably depends where you hunt for archery. I’ve done otc twice and I’ve seen a total of three hunters, and not a ton of rigs at the trailheads. During otc rifle or some of the 1st rifle hunts where there’s a ton of tags available you’d think the battle of Gettysburg was getting started on opening morning. Just my experience though.

 

[ColoradoV]

Answer is summed up by this scene in Groundhog Day..

Or do you want to puke outside the car or inside the car...

 

[Boone-In-Wall]

Archery is traditionally harder. Just from a success rate stand point. Historically, you're looking a 10-15% success rate for Archery and Rifle is over 30%. Now, you can find units that certainly defy those odds.

 

[5MilesBack]

Just look at the number of tags sold for each to get an idea. In the early 2000's I came back from overseas to do an OTC rifle hunt with a buddy. We went to a unit and area that I had never hunted before, and got there a few days early to check it all out. Just looking for a good camping spot was crazy. In some spots there were a dozen or more rigs with horse trailers lined up. Others.......RV's and camps in every nook or pullout off a side road. We eventually went to a totally different area of the unit and found it very vacant. I actually said to my buddy that "there must not be any elk in that area, but I'd rather hunt in solitude regardless". I had an either sex tag and a cow tag and my buddy just had an either sex tag. We hunted solo and I shot a 5-point bull first thing opening morning, and then we got two cows the next day.

The next year we were in there again and it was as crowded as it could get. We camped at the end of a 4wd road where we had solitude the last year, and that morning we counted 27 vehicles along the 1.5 mile stretch. Have no idea what happened or why the difference, but it was ridiculous. I thought to myself "hmmmm I wonder what it's like in here during archery"?

A couple years later I went back for archery.......it was a ghost town, and fantastic hunting. I've hunted there several years since and only once was I disappointed. That disappointment year was pretty crazy. It was like someone was bussing in hunters and there were camps literally everywhere and even right on the shoulders of the main road just getting in there. I left. But then later found out that Huntin' Fool had called out that unit as the best OTC archery unit in the state. Idiots. Interestingly enough, the next year it was almost back to normal, and again great hunting. But there is definitely an ebb and flow with crowds it seems regardless what season you hunt. Overall, you just have to look at the numbers of tags sold for each season to see what is really happening.

 

[Jaquomo]

Archery, because bowhunters hunt harder and deeper and push the elk nonstop for 30 days, calling like crazy.. Rifle hunters do a lot more sitting and watching and road hunting. Rifle seasons are 5-9 days, with a break in between.

 

[Indian Summer]

You ask, which is harder. Numbers don’t lie so obviously rifle hunting is higher success “for most people”.

As far as numbers of people. That doesn’t matter to me. Most don’t give 100% and it’s always easy to find places to call my own.

I guess I should add that my opinion is based on hunting Montana and Wyoming. I’ve never been to Colorado, but if I can’t find a place to call my own I’m not hunting there.

 

[Divide93]

The past 20 years I have been absent from the high country, and not by choice. My last archery hunt was in '03. It was freaking awesome, spent the whole month in camp! Did not fill my freezer, passed on some cows and blew an opportunity on a beautiful bull in Unit 18. I had the place to myself except for the day some ATV's tried getting into an area they were not allowed! I changed their minds! When muzzleloader season came the woods lit up for a week! These days, I hear that it is rather busy in them there woods. I pray I have one more elk bowhunt in this broke down body of mine before I die! Continued enjoyable hunts to all of you!