Wisco94

Hey all,

My father and I are planning an archery hunt in Colorado the first couple weeks of the season (Only time I can with school). We have a unit in mind that has had decent archery and muzzleloader success but pretty bad rifle success. We have previously hunted the unit next to it during rifle and have done well but are by no means experts. What I'm hoping is someone would be willing to PM me their thoughts on the unit we're thinking. I realize everyone has their secret spots and isn't willing to share those, same as I wouldn't share exactly where I hunt whitetails, but I'm hoping for just a general Idea of a unit that would present us with an opportunity to get into some elk. Not picky at all about size, I'm just hoping to not go the whole trip without seeing one. I'm hoping to be able to go out there for a week before the season opens to do some scouting and camping, it's a 15 hour drive from where I'm at but I think a week of hard scouting would really pay dividends for us regardless of unit rather than going in blind.

Thanks guys

Muley Hunter

A unit number might help.

kidoggy

I may be wrong but I think he's asking for a recomendation on a good unit to hunt

iayotehunter

Unit 14 near Fish Creek Resivoir

Wisco94

We were looking at 7 or 14. Sorry somehow I missed that part. In the past 6 is the unit we always rifle hunted later in the season.

Wisco94

Or if any of you have a different unit you would recommend we're certainly not set on where we want to go. It's been 7 years since I've been to Colorado and 3 for my dad and he was only there for 3 days before his hunting partner got altitude sickness so they had to leave so we're not all that familiar with the current state of the units. I've been pouring over the stats from the last few days, but a lot of the stats are very similar (within a few %) for so many of the units that it's tough to pick one.

Wisco94

If it helps at all, we plan on packing in 3-5 miles and then hunting from there. By mountain standards my dad is in decent shape. Not phenomenal but I'm working on him to start exercising more so we can cover some ground while we're out there.

Topgun 3006

Have either of you ever backpacked an elk out of the mountains 3-5 miles? If you haven't, the hunting part will be the simple part of your adventure! If you happen to connect, then you had better be ready for some serious work and maybe you don't realize what you're getting into. Unless both of you are in above average shape, you'll need to figure on three trips to get everything out to a trailhead and that's if you bone it all out. Then it will depend on the weather how fast you need to get it all out and stored properly so you don't lose any meat. Please make sure you're not getting in over your head and make sure to have a good doable plan BEFORE you go, as that is a long way to pack out an elk in the mountains.

Wisco94

Yes we both have experience packing out elk for good distances and I am in above average condition, I run an average of 15 miles a week and lift weights regularly and my dad also exercises regularly. I'm 20 and he's 45 so he's not an old man yet haha. The only part of elk hunting that would be totally new for us would be the archery aspect, and as you mentioned the preservation of meat in the warm weather in the event we do connect. Which is precisely why I am trying to sort all of this out well ahead of time.

Topgun 3006

Cripes, my two kids are older than your Dad, LOL!