2droptine

So, Im an experienced whitetail hunter from IL. Next month Myself and my Hunting partner are doing a DIY Elk hunt in CO. This will be my first time ever even seeing an elk. So i need some help from you good folks here in the know. Ive got the gear down i think. I am bringing a lite tree stand with me. I do see videos of peeps hunting big bulls on the ground and they are getting away with all kinds of stuff you just wouldn't get away with while hunting a mature IL whitetail.
This is also the opener so from what i read there isnt alot of calling going on like the rut so maybe more like hunting travel routes for whitetails that im very accustom to.
Just looks like a completely different deal so i feel like i need to talk to some folks with some knowledge.

Im also wondering if i need to bring a side arm. looks like we are about an hour north of Steamboat Springs.

hardcastonly

elk country generally requires you cover and glass a great deal of area, to locate your target, and unlike white tail deer, your chances of sitting in a tree stand in the correct time frame, at the correct place is far less likely.
simply because most elk range over many miles of range not hundreds of yards and they may take weeks, or months to travel back through one specific drainage or stand of timber.
use topo maps to locate potential natural choke points, logging road access and camp sites.
being in good physical condition is almost mandatory, most of us think we are but if your not familiar with hunting at 5000-10000 ft altitude you might be rather surprised at the difference, it makes.
bring a good set of binoculars and good comfortable boots with good grip tread soles.
have a decent pack, temps can change from below freezing to 70F in a days time, having a GPS helps
drink plenty of liquids and have a few aspirin, or aleve and excedrin etc. , youll need them
bringing a side arm is generally not mandatory, but you might prefer to pack out elk meat, once you have dropped one elk, , with a side arm vs a rifle as a 60-80 lb pack is plenty to manage while packing out of steep canyons
you can wonder around in good elk territory and eventually see elk, , but if you know how to read topo maps and understand what elk need, if you are persistent, and spend enough time at key travel, and escape choke point, locations, you can increase the odds significantly

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com...ing-tips.1095/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/long-range-calibers-for-elk-are-not-mandatory.1275/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/got-asked-again-about-what-id-select-for-a-good-all-around-elk-mule-deer-rifle.12948/

bikerman9967

tree stand hunting for elk doesn't normally work. maybe if you had trail cameras set up for a few months in advance you could get a good pattern. early season in the heat they will be up very high so be prepared to climb. i hunted first rifle in colorado last year and they were indeed high even with temps at night in the 20s. it warmed up to the 50s/60s during the day so movement was minimum. be at high elevation before light and glassing while the sun is coming up. normally you will see them up through the aspens in the mornings or tree lines. if you're going in a month, will you be hunting with the bow?

flags

If you are going to be an hr north of Steamboat then you're probably hunting somewhere around Hahn's Peak. I have hunted a lot for elk, deer and bear in that area. Unless you can set that treestand up over a hot waterhole or wallow you're probably wasting your time. Based on my personal hunting journal I have taken about 10 elk in that area and every one of them was either glassed and stalked or walked up. In the early season the elk will probably be in mostly areas where the aspens and pines come together. They will feed in the aspens and spend the hot parts of the day in the shade of the pines. The area you are going to be in, if my guess is right, has quite a few closed off logging roads. These make it pretty easy to cover a for of country on foot while you are looking for elk.

I have personally shot 25 elk, most of them in CO, and I'd guess I walked an average of 30 miles for every one I have taken. Elk country is big country and only a small percentage of it will hold elk. You need to cover ground in the early season to find them. I'd also suggest if you are bow hunting and you probably are if you are hunting that early to take a cow if you can. I always suggest first time elk hunters target a cow since there are always a lot more cows than bulls and they are smaller which makes it easier for first time elk hunters to take care of because field care for an elk is a whole lot different than a deer especially if you have to pack it a couple of miles.

This bull came out of Crane Park which is roughly an hr north of Steamboat. Not a huge bull but average for that region of the state. If you see one like this, take it.

Big Uncle

Elk hunting in the real world is vastly different from the television show versions. With a tree stand you would only have a reasonable chance of an elk if you found a wallow or small pond that nobody else knows about to stake out, and that is highly unlikely. Elk are usually taken with your legs and lungs. I have taken about 40 elk over the years mostly by using binoculars and wearing out the soles of my boots.

Alsatian

Carry two good knives with you. If you get an elk, you will want to field dress it promptly. Two knives because sometimes knives break on elk. If it is warmish, you might want to skin and quarter the meat right away. Have a plan for carrying out the elk on your back in 50 LBS loads -- four or five trips. If you have horses, mules, or a motor vehicle that you can use to retrieve your meat you are lucky.

i have heard it said that you don't want to move slow when looking for elk, as that prevents covering a lot of ground, and you need to cover a lot of ground to find the elk. If you make noise, that isn't necessarily bad: elk make noise too. When you find fresh sign, then slow down. Use glassing with binoculars early and late to find animals while saving your legs.

Elk are not just anywhere, they are where elk like to be. If you can learn where they like to be, you can focus your efforts on those places. Flags gave some advice along those lines. I've heard it said elk like to bed near or on benches of ridges, close to the top of the ridge.

Elk like to be at high elevation when there is little or no snow. In Colorado, the aspen/pine interface may be about 11,000 feet. Be prepared for that altitude. As a low-lander myself, I work at physical fitness, but I just accept that I'm going to be out of breath. I just stop when I need to and catch my breath. It is not a sprint but a long distance race. Be aware you need to set a pace you can maintain for 5 days or more and possibly go into over-time when you kill an elk, to pack it out timely.

It is big country, so remember how to find your way back to camp or to the truck. At night you won't have a lot of visual cues to navigate by. Having a GPS and knowing how to use it is probably a good idea. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive.

bikerman9967

i definitely wouldn't have passed that one up on my last hunt in co. we had horses on our hunt and still didn't cover enough ground. i averaged 5-8 miles a day on foot then another 5-10 on horses. they were just higher then we were and not a ton in the area i was in. never saw one elk in 5 days.

hardcastonly

after dozens of elk hunts in Colorado and Wyoming, I learned you can,t assume you can wonder around a particular area that may look good or one conveniently located close to where your camped,
Successfully looking to find elk, requires, you to cover a good deal of topography and have a decent understanding of what the elk need and are looking to avoid.
it also helps if you have a good understanding of the natural terrain choke points, preferred browse/feed, cover, escape,routes,, bedding areas, water access.etc.
generally most guys won,t get more than a mile off logging road access simply because its too hard to retrieve a downed elk and pack it out where no motor vehicle access is allowed.
you can also find real honey spots if you hunt areas that require you wade creeks or climb or descend into canyons,
I can,t begin to tell you how many times I hunted canyons and had new guys after 1- or- 2 days sit out the rest of the trip hunting near camp rather than climb in and out of canyon country,
as a consequence, I generally learn to pack fairly light, I'm prepared to spend the night if its required and I rarely see other hunters after opening day, in the rather remote canyon country.



LOWER CANYON

upper canyon
picture yourself slowly walking, in a walk 20-40 yards ,stop and glass,for 10-12 minutes, along the slope on one side of the canyon about 200 yards up from the bottom while your hunting companion walks the opposite slope , you'll find this method quite effective, especially if a second pair of hunters start hunting from the opposite end of the canyon, elk spotting one hunter will generally move making them more easily seen from the opposite slope.
a good deal of the area looked similar to this

Champlain Islander

Elk are big, hang out in large groups, leave plenty of sign and are fairly easy to spot if you go slow enough and use binoculars from vantage points. The areas in Colorado I have hunted didn't have the type of trees that are needed for tree stands and like has been said unless you found some remote water, sitting in a tree will just ensure you probably won't be seeing elk. I would buy a decent pack frame and either hunt with it or at least have it in the truck or remote camp. Once you get an animal down a pack frame will help you get 50 to 100 pounds of meat out each trip. Elk are large animals and even a cow will present a difficulty when trying to cool the meat and get it out of the canyons. Altitude sickness is another consideration. I live at 118' above sea level and the cabin I normally stayed in was somewhere around 9000 feet and we hunted higher. I had 1 issue with altitude sickness and then started to use an approved and prescribed medicine to condition my blood to operate in reduced O2 levels. It had a few minor side effects such as tingling lips and finger tips and making carbonated beverages taste bad but for the most part were helpful. The med was to be taken a couple of days before arriving at altitude and then for a day or two after. The side effects ended a day or so after I stopped taking the med. Not everyone experiences altitude sickness but once it happens the hunt is over since you will experience acute flue like symptoms and getting to lower elevation is necessary. The med is commonly used by high altitude military foot soldiers but in higher doses than what you would be prescribed. The pictures posted above are fairly typical of the terrain where you might find elk. Good leather footwear is necessary for climbing up and down those rocky canyons. Don't cheap out on the boots because they need to be comfortable and offer good support. Learn to use a cow call because on several occasions when a herd of elk got suspicious of me moving through the timber a cow call calmed them and they went back to feeding. If you jump a herd start cow calling right off and sometimes it will slow or stop them but not always. When they run off they are usually gone for miles unlike deer.
Nice Colorado elk flags.

Champlain Islander

My last one