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New to CO

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New to CO

Postby Zack » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 1]

Hey everyone, my fiancé and I moved to Colorado earlier this year and I’ve been hoping to get in to elk hunting as soon as possible. I’ve gone through most of the Elk101 course, and I’ve got a scouting trip planned for this weekend. I was hoping to make it out for the first week of archery this year, but I may have to push it until the 2nd rifle season. Anyone have any tips or advice for getting started here? Thank a lot!
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Re: New to CO

Postby saddlesore » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 2]

That would be like taking a drink from a fire hose. Give us a little more info on your past experience equipment and such.Do you have the 6 month residency established or will you need to buy a NR tag? Do you have your Hunter Ed card?
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Re: New to CO

Postby Elkduds » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 3]

Enthusiastic is a good way to start. Welcome to the WT and CO. This is worth a look: https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/EHU.aspx . Some of it is redundant to the 101, some is CO-specific. In your scouting trip, are you looking for OTC hunting spots or wanting to find animals? Are you packing in or base-camping for your hunt? Agree w Saddlesore, narrow it down a bit for us.
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Re: New to CO

Postby Zack » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 4]

Yea sorry, I didn’t want to overload the initial post with too much. So I am from Missouri. I’ve hunted whitetail forever, and I came here about 2 months ago. So my plan is to get a OTC cow NR tag. I’ve been preparing for this for about the last 8 months or so, and I have all the gear to backpack in. I have been using harvest data and onX to narrow down spots, I was going to try and scout some a spot in unit 421 this weekend. Any kind of tips would be really appreciated!
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Re: New to CO

Postby saddlesore » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 5]

If you came in May, 3 rd or 4th season you would have your residency in. However, back packing in those seasons is not recommended because of the uncertainty of the weather. By then though Left over cow tags are hard to come by.OTC bull tags are unlimited. Do you have your Hunter's Ed card? If not,get that out of the way ASAP.

Watch for the leftover tags list that should becoming out the 1st part of August and on sale Aug. 6 at 9 am.

The single most important tip IMHO is to figure out before you even leave home is how you will get your elk out once you have one down. An elk is about 4x the weight of a whitetail.You might do two trips out but 4 is usually over the limit of most guys. At least take help.Elk are not like whitetails.They have no home range of a mile or so and seeing some one day may very well mean they are 5-10miles away the next. They may move back in 5-8 days or not or it might be another completely different group. The amount of hunting pressure makes all the difference.


I like to say,there are no hard and fast rules of elk hunting ,and even the few that may apply sometimes, the elk don't know about.
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Re: New to CO

Postby Zack » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 6]

I do have my hunters Ed. What’s the latest in the season you’d consider backpacking in? Would it be safe enough during 2nd rifle season, or is that a time I should start looking to set up a base camp?
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Re: New to CO

Postby saddlesore » 07 19, 2019 •  [Post 7]

Zack wrote:I do have my hunters Ed. What’s the latest in the season you’d consider backpacking in? Would it be safe enough during 2nd rifle season, or is that a time I should start looking to set up a base camp?


Depends on what area. Gunnison country get snow usually during 2nd rifle. Sometimes it is 2-3 ", sometimes it is 2 feet. Usually even the outfitters pull their camps after 2nd.

I would not pack in more than maybe three miles during 2nd rifle but if you watch the weather, you would be OK, 3 miles seems to be the limit to carry one out on your back alone.Again that depends on the terrain.
Hunting less than 9000 feet will mean less chance of snow, but up thru 2nd season, less chance of elk as they will be a might higher. Definitely take gear along for a base camp.

With the amount of snow we had this past winter,and the way weather patterns have been doing with all the rain so far this summer, we might catch a bad early winter in 2019.

I don't want to sound too worrisome, but the Colorado Rockies can put you in some dire straights weather wise during hunting season.
If you hunt the migration hunts 3rd-4th season up around Meeker, those hunts you can usually stay in a motel and hunt along the main roads , like CO 13 south of Hamilton near Isle Groves,3 Points Mtn., which is mostly BLM land. 3r d-4ths season there are usually cow tags left and by then you can buy one as a resident. Since they are"B" tags, you can buy one for 3rd season and one for 4th season .
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Re: New to CO

Postby Elkduds » 07 19, 2019 •  [Post 8]

Zack wrote:I do have my hunters Ed. What’s the latest in the season you’d consider backpacking in? Would it be safe enough during 2nd rifle season, or is that a time I should start looking to set up a base camp?

Pack in as Plan A, Base camp as Plan B should fit this year's 2nd season dates IF weather is similar to the last 5 Octobers. Note that it fell below 0 last fall during 1st season for a couple days. No way to know that until about a week before season; even then the forecast can turn on a dime. It is always important to have access to weather forecasts in the backcountry in autumn. A 2 man nylon tent is much easier to decamp than a wall tent, stove and cots, when it snows 18 inches in 2 days. If you are fully prepared for a weather shift that severe, you should be OK packing in during 2nd season '19. Agree that weather @ 11K will always be a bigger risk than @ 9.5K.

Note that starting next year 2nd season will be @ least a week later, for the next 5, possibly 7 years. 3rd season will be Nov, 4th will be ending close to Thanksgiving under the new season structure.
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Re: New to CO

Postby Zack » 07 19, 2019 •  [Post 9]

Both of those responses are incredibly helpful, I really appreciate it!
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Re: New to CO

Postby Camelcluch » 07 20, 2019 •  [Post 10]

If the late seasons are too much, pay the non resident fee this year. That may give you some more options. Where are you located and what areas are you looking into?
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Re: New to CO

Postby Zack » 07 21, 2019 •  [Post 11]

Camelcluch wrote:If the late seasons are too much, pay the non resident fee this year. That may give you some more options. Where are you located and what areas are you looking into?

Yea I was just planning on paying the non resident fee for this year I think. I'm not quite comfortable enough yet to be out there with a lot of snow. I live in Denver area, so I was initially looking in Arapaho national forest in unit 28, but I've been scouting an area in 521 that I want to get out to on the Aug 3rd weekend.
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Re: New to CO

Postby Camelcluch » 07 24, 2019 •  [Post 12]

If you are in the Denver area, check out no limits archery. Lots of hunters in there. 28 is packed because it’s close but there are elk you just need to work.
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