Big Country, unit 55, 551has a post 2004 hunt population of 3,690 elk according to Colorado OutdoorsJan-Feb 2006 issue.It is one of the smaller elk herds in the state compared to the White River herd, 41,570 the San Juan herd, 20,040 the Gran Mesa herd 11,570. Go to the Colorado DOW site,
http://www.wildlife.state.co.us/read up on their info on herd numbers,hunter's success, west slope hunter guideinformation. Unit 55 is OTC archery elk tag, so getting one is no problem, tag that is ! "OTC" over the counter. It is a beautiful area,the east border is right on the Continental Divide.The Collegiate Wilderness area, The West Elk Wilderness area, the Ragged Wilderness area, the Fossil Ridge Wilderness area, all surrounds unit 55.It ishome to the largest aspen tree stand in the world. Drive along CR 12, Kebler Pass road out of Crested Butte, to see the beauty of the area. Units 55, 54, 53, 521 are all along the road. It is 38 miles long from Crested Butte to Paonia reservior. All good dirt road in archery season. You will not regret traveling to Colo to bowhunt elk in unit 55, numbers are few in comparison to other units, hunting pressure is high near the roads, but they are there in that ruggedbeautiful country.Get in shape, it is rugged steep country !Go to
http://www.mycolorado.com/ click on "Trip reports" in yellow at the bottom of the home page for the complete listings. Scroll down until you see "Lost Lakes" West Elks Mountains, June 2004. It is a hiking diary of atrip to Lost Lake campgroundsoff Kebler Pass Road, there will be numerous pictures of the area. This site will show you "all" of Colorado in it's many trip reports. Also, see
http://www.mycolorado.org/ for more hiking, camping, photos of Colorado. Also
http://www.rockymountainscenery.com/ and finally
http://www.summitpost.org/ a mountain climbing site, for all the world, but great info on Colorado, you can find trailheads, and lots of info on hiking in the wilderness areas. Go if you can, you won't regret it . HH in Pa