Newbe elk hunter
 

I was looking for any tips from the experienced on hunting elk. This will be my first time going. I will be in Colorado south of Grand Junction. It will be the week of labor day. I will be bow hunting. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

My .02 is not to go over labor day. #1 too early before the rut. #2 people and 4 wheelers. This is the last camping week of the year for the average summer camper.

Try to go the 3rd or 4th week.

If you do go and this is the only time you can go make sure you are ready to hike away from all the camping crowds. You will have to spot and stalk that early as bugling and cow calling will "Probably" be ineffective.

tip...get in shape, you'll be happy you did. I suggest actually doing some hiking to get in shape.

If this is your first hunt don''t try to call with anything other than a Primos Hutchie Mama. All you have to do is push on the end and it calls. Most anything else you need lots of practice.
Also to get in shape I put a 50 lb. sack of deer corn in my pack and walk around with it a lot going up steep hills as much as possible. I've already been doing that this year for the last month.
Good luck!

History does show that the early season is a tough time to hunt and be successful here in CO. Warm weather, other people hiking/biking/camping etc. seem to still be out in force, and the elk aren't very vocal. Hope you've been worknig out to be in the best shape possible, you'll appreciate it.
Calling can work early season. We've called in bulls that never once bugled. We do a lot of "blind" calling early season, and it can work. If you can find some active wallows, sitting and waiting can work as well.
CO. has been experiencing a wet cool summer, so maybe this winter will come early, and maybe Labor Day weekend will bring a cold front with snow. If that happens, all the better as it might just get the elk worked up earlier this fall than in the past.
Good luck and shoot straight.

I just returned from the opening week of CO elk season without success. Just as mentioned, the weather was warm and the elk were silent. There was lots of sign, but the hunting was hard. I only saw 4 bulls and 6 cows. Next year I'll go in the middle of Sept. Climb stairs with your pack. I'm from LA and for about 6 weeks prior to the hunt, I would run 3-5 miles about 4 days a week and hike with 55 lb pack 2-3 x wk and climb 10 flights of stairs 5 x in a row at least once a week. I didn't have any soreness and we hunted up to about 12,000 ft and walked about 50 miles in 6 days. Drink lots of water.

Jakes,

Not trying to tell a man his business, but walking 50 miles in 6 days will leave you empty handed most times for archery elk hunting. Slow down. Get in there where a few elk signs are in the deep timber. Stay there don't move unless someone comes through and drives that band of elk out but they'll come back eventually. If you hunt one spot for several days in a row your odds just increased by a whole lot. I prefer this time of year to hunt where most bulls have wallows and rubs because those bulls are still there. They haven't gone off chasing many cows yet, at least not the first week of archery season. You will have satellite bulls running behind cows but that means nothing the elk are in the cycle yet. Those larger bulls won't start moving until the upcoming two weeks. Calling is not the way to really get a bull early in a season. Get in within his bedding area and be patient. Good luck.