It's gotta be so awesome to bring one of them biggins down.

I think one of the keys to taking an elk is hunting the same area and knowing your area. I go camping/fishing/scouting/hiking in my main area 2-5 times each summer. My secondary area I live in and get to scout/drive it just about every day.

I have a perfect story for this post. This last season was my wife's first elk hunt in Arizona. We hunted an area which I have been hunting for years and know better than I know the inside of my house. We scouted many times in my little secret spot and I was very pleased with what I saw, her on the otherhand was skeptical on what she was seeing. Opening day she decided that she wanted to hunt more in the pine area, I argued to no avail that there are too many hunters and not enough elk in those areas. However we spent the whole first day bumping into dozens of other hunters close to the road, and several pickups all with hunters cruising the nice smooth forest roads. We didn't see one elk. The next day we went back to my secret area, and we saw both of the herds in the area, the 150 head herd, and the herd with 75 head in it. We both filled our tags off of these herds. She also learned the importance of hunting the back country areas.

I have to agree to this statement .......I hunt the same area each and every year, for both deer and elk..........it's about 2 sq.miles public land, all sage brush fairly flat about 3/4,000 ft level,,, have never been more that maybe 3/4 of a mile from a road can normally see camp,,,but we are in the area all the time, whether its to camp, fish or maybe target practice!!! we always see animals of one type or another!!! LOL!!!
I have taken 14 elk out of this area....because I know where the elk are and where they gonna go if they get pushed, and how to get there before them or at least head them off!!!!

Wow! That's easy hunting. I start at 9000ft and go up from there, and nothing is flat.

I don't think anywhere in Colorado is that low. Maybe by the Kansas border. Maybe.

Lucky you.

Likewise...one area we hunt is from 8500 to 10,500 and the other is 9000 to 11,500 and above. The valley down near town is at 7200 and that is the lowest area within several hours drive.

An area like you described in Colorado would have over 50 hunters trying to hunt it.You would definitly see more orange vest then deer or elk.

I think like ten differnt rigs went past camp last year....saw about 1-3 other hunters per day and they were a long ways away, except for the one who shot at us !!!!!.... most hunters here feel that where I hunt is not (elk) country and head for the high timber...I just say have at'r I'll stay here!!! LOL!!!! I have a pic or two of what it looks like where I hunt in my profile.... but I doo see way more folks during deer season than elk!!!!