Cacker1

I have lived in CO for a little over a year now and have recently been invited to go on an DIY Public land elk hunt . I'm an avid white tail hunter back in TX were im from so I have plenty of gear but no experience in this kinda cold and altitude ! I'm very excited and ready to hit the trails but have absolutely no clue how elk behave or what they tend to do in weather and what times of day they move soon and so fourth . Is there anyone here that will be hunting second season rifle down in SW CO near gunnison? Just wondering how the elk are acting are they still in rut ? Still bugleing? should i get a bugle and cow call ? Im a believer in calling methods for bucks in texas and have had some success with rattling in the past . please feel free to school me any way you can . Thanks

Big Uncle

Mostly you will see elk in the very early morning and just before dark and they will probably be in groups and not by themselves. Elk hunting methods change a great deal with weather and hunting pressure. If it is warm during the day hunt the South slopes and dark places like timber. Do your best to get away from the other orange jackets - that is what elk do.

You might hear some elk (or likely other hunters) bugle in second season but leave your bugle at home. Carry a cow call if you want. I normally do not carry any calls and have put a lot of elk in the freezer. I might carry a cow call if I plan to hunt the timber.

Most elk hunting is done by putting miles on your boots as opposed to sitting and waiting for a whitetail. Use the trails to access an area and then get off the trail to hunt. You can get by with a little noise but watch the wind. Carry good binoculars and use them.

Cacker1

Thanks Big Unc, I'm hoping the bike riding to and from work the last few months will pay off for my hiking in the altitude. Its a 13 mile ride one way so I feel i will be ok but wont know for sure until i get there. Thanks again .

flags

One little piece of advice I always give any elk hunter is to hunt uphill if you can. That way if you tag out you're packing meat downhill!

RCIII

My advice is to be persistent and stay in the field. Not many elk are shot sitting in camp. I assume you're going in the 3rd (or 4th) season. Won't be any bugling going on but call calling may help. Expect anything that time of year and hope for some (not a lot) of snow. It will improve visibility and of course tracking. Most of all get out and have fun and think " damn, I'm hunting elk in Colorado! Don't get much better than that. I included a pic of a muzzle loader bull we took in Sept.

Cacker1

thanks guys, In fact i will be hunting n the second season. I am leaving next wends. I will be hunting wends through Sunday . I was thinking about getting a cow call but didn't . now i probably will . Nice bull by the way . Packing meat down hill makes sense. I have been keeping in mind that there is a chance that i don't see a single elk and it doesn't even bother me because of the fact that its in the mountains. Getting a kill or even a sight of an elk would just be the icing on the cake! Thanks for the replies guys , I will re post when i get back to civilization and the inter web unless some one replies before i leave .

RCIII

Uphill, downhill - makes no difference. You'll get it out and have some great tasting meat. Get the cow call! Be safe and enjoy yourself. What unit?

Cacker1

We will be in unit 55.

Cacker1

What unit did you take that monster from? I have been studying topo maps and satellite imagery of unit 55 so much i feel like i know most of the southern region of it ! LOL but I know that maps will never do justice to the real deal . I'm just hoping that there is not going to be a lot of orange around were we will be . I'm assuming there will be but ive never hunted on public land ... i am kinda concerned about it . i know that the area has to be vast but id hate to walk up on someone that is stalking something before me and then I scare it off . I guess that this is probably the nature of the beast but i know id be pretty disappointed if that happened to me ! I was wanting to pack a single man tent in as far as i could walk the first day and then satellite from it the next day if i didn't see anything then move camp and do the same . I feel kinda obligated to stay in base camp with my buddy that invited me to go since he just bought a big nice canvas tent i think he said its a 12x9. he told me i could do what ever i wanted but still id be kinda bummed if my friend left me for 5 days ha ha. oh well if i enjoy the time out there then maybe i will do it next season on my own . that is if my company doesn't transfer me again . I may even stay here in CO if they do that . Tired of moving plus what outdoors man could ever leave this beautiful state and go back to oven of Texas!

RCIII

Hunted in area 61 which is a limited access trophy area. My brother and I used all 21 of our preference points to draw tags. 21 years of putting in for preference points was well worth it. I recommend putting in every year so one day you can draw one of these tags. There were only around 50 muzzle loader tags for this whole area. It was awesome. I never really went away from my base camp and set up a spike camp but it may help. 2nd season will already be under way when you arrive and the elk will be big time pressured and heading to private property or deep canyons. I'm not going to kid you, it will be tough going. This will be a learning experience for you so don't set your expectations too high. You may not even see any elk which has happened to me many times but just enjoy yourself. Good luck and have fun.