Having never hunted elk, and I plan on going next year, I have a few questions. At what elevations do elk usually hang out during september? I had read somewhere that as the rut heats up the cows move to lower elevations and the bulls follow. Is that true? Someone had also told me that if you see muleys there are probably no elk because muleys try to stay away from the elk. What isthe average yardageat which most archery shot are taken?
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If you're not leaning, no one can let you down.
Where I hunt elk in Colorado we hunt between about 7000 and 10000 feetwith elk throughout those elevations at any time. The average shot is somewhere between 5 yardsandyour personal maximum range... seriously. There are some areasthat arethick with oak brush allowing you to get CLOSE, and the areas in the aspen are open and thus harder to get close. I would suggest being VERY comfortable at 40 yards, as that has been a common distancefor me to get a shot in the aspen. My experienceas far as mule deer go is that they don't avoid elk, but they generally don't hang out right next to each other. There have beena bunch of frustrating timeswhen I would be stalking some elk and I would spook a muley, who would of course run right through the elk and spook them all. So, just because you are seeing mule deer, don'tthink that there can't be some elk nearby. Good luck and enjoy the scenery. If you are there when the leaves change it is one of the most beautiful thingsyou can ever see.
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"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism" - Nikita Krushchev 1959
I was so hoping you would say that about the elevation. The area I was looking at is in that elevation range. I was a little worried that it might have been too low for that time of year. How long have you been hunting out there?
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If you're not leaning, no one can let you down.
I have been going out there for 12 years now. Always get into elk, but don't always get one. I do a five day hunt with a mom and pop outfitter who my dad has been going with for over 25 years. Not too many"trophy" bulls there, but I still love it.
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"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism" - Nikita Krushchev 1959
Yeah, I had read that there aren't many trohpies out there. But, I'm going because I love the meat, and as my family says, "You can't eat the antlers". When I was little I always wanted to see the antlers, but no one ever brought them home. They were always left in the field. I can tell you, when I moved away and tasted beef for the first time I almost puked...lol. Do you know whether it's possible to buy two tags? I thought I might buy two cow tags if things look good.
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If you're not leaning, no one can let you down.
I hunt in area 63 and you can buy one either sex tag and one cow tag over the counter. The either sex is about $500 and the cow only is $250. Iam not sure if you can buy 2 cow only or not, but I would assume so.
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"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism" - Nikita Krushchev 1959
You can buy two cow only tags if you wish. As for the trophy, it all depends on what you call a trophy. We have taken two bulls just over 300 inches in three years from public land. To me, these were great trophies. Both were taken around 9500 feet the first week of the season and there are plenty of mule deer around us.
We have been hunting GMU 62 and yes there are PLENTY of mulies. The biggest problem is there is 100 does for every buck from what I have seen in the woods. Over the last three years my group has had 6 deer tags. Two really nice bucks were seen the first year by both the guys with tags. One of them got a shot on two different days and placed an arrow between the horns both times. Last year, no horns seen by the guys with tags. This year, both guys filled their tag on private land.
Colorado Archery Elk Hunt
