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First archery elk hunt

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First archery elk hunt

Postby Creekhunter » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 1]

Excited for a new adventure in Colorado this September for my first elk hunt. I've never hunted in Colorado or hunted elk. I'm looking for some advice on what to look for as far as terrain features and areas while E scouting. I'm hunting in units 75 and 751 during the 3rd week of September. I'm not looking for any specific secret spots or hand outs,just some information and guidance. I'm a newbie and I'll be going at it solo so any help or information on these units is greatly appreciated! PM me if you would like. Thanks!!
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Elkhunttoo » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 2]

Idaho guy here so I can’t help you at all with the area. Welcome to the forum.
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Creekhunter » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 3]

I'm headed to Idaho next May for some bears! Never been to Idaho but it looks beautiful, I've hunted bears in Alaska with my bow but was unsuccessful, going to give it a try in Idaho next.

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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 4]

Welcome to the forum CH, glad to have you on board. I’ve never hunted Colorado but many here have; I’m sure they’ll chime in. As with any new to you area, it’s never a bad idea to contact the local State Fish and Game BIO and even the Ranger District personnel and ask about the area. Any chance of you making a scout trip out there to do some poking around?
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Creekhunter » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 5]

WapitiTalk1 wrote:Welcome to the forum CH, glad to have you on board. I’ve never hunted Colorado but many here have; I’m sure they’ll chime in. As with any new to you area, it’s never a bad idea to contact the local State Fish and Game BIO and even the Ranger District personnel and ask about the area. Any chance of you making a scout trip out there to do some poking around?
My intentions are to make a trip the end of July,but it depends on my work schedule. I'm from Missouri and it's a 15 hour drive so I'd like to make it atleast a 4 day trip if I can. So far I've just been in Google earth and On X trying to look for spots but even with that technology at hand I'm still trying to learn what good elk habitat looks like. I definitely need boots on the ground.

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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Swede » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 6]

Again, welcome to the forum Creekhunter. I have never hunted Colorado. I also do no know when and how you are going to hunt, so what I am going to suggest are generalities.

Find a unit with a decent success rate with mostly public land, unless you have permission to hunt a ranch. Elk love to jump a fence and get behind a "No Trespassing" sign. They will taunt and torment you from there.
I like to hunt areas with a lot of edge effect. I am referring to places with open feeding grounds and well as hiding cover. I like about a 50/50 split or as close as reasonable. No place is perfect.
Find out general locations where elk are living and traveling. Don't hunt at 6,000 feet if it has been four months since they left that region.
If you get into a unit that has a lot of other hunters, you will need to get away from them. The elk will. In these heavily hunted areas, stay off of the main ridges and trails. Stay down on the side hill where the hiking may be a little harder. It will amaze you how few hunters are required to make an area "heavily hunted". A couple of camps per mile along a main road is more than enough.
Pay attention to bedding areas and water holes/springs. Check for fresh usage. Is the fresh use due to a herd passing through the area or do you have frequent visits by an elk or small herd. If all of the tracks and scat are fresh, they have just passed by and you are behind them most likely. If you see tracks of different age and scat too, it is more likely some are hanging around the area. Another good thing to watch for is rubs. This varies with the season, but especially valuable in archery season/Sept. If you are seeing a lot of fresh rubs, especially along a game trail, you likely have a bull(s) moving around between a bedding area and a water hole. If a bedding area is full of fresh rubs, it is likely it is getting used frequently.
Don't hesitate to find a good vantage point and watch for hours. Elk move around and if they are in the area, you are more likely to see them undisturbed if you are quiet and inconspicuous. Often it is fairly easy to get back to camp in the evening and announce, "I saw 10-20 elk today". It is better to say, "Let's have dinner now, as we have a big pack out tonight."
Watch the wind. The best time to see elk on the move is before 10:00 AM in the morning and after 2:00PM in the afternoon.
If you are in a heavily hunted otc unit, I would be very reserved about the calling I do. In locations where every hunter has a call and thinks they can be the Pied Piper of elk, calls can be counter productive.
Learn your chosen elk hunting area and learn to hunt elk.

I am sure some of the Colorado culls that hang out here can help you more. :D
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Indian Summer » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 7]

Here’s my advice if you want to find elk in Colorado. Imagine if you were a prisoner escaped from a penitentiary and half a million armed guards were doing everything they could to find you to bring you back dead or alive but mostly dead. Think about where you would go. That’s what’s going through the mind of a Colorado elk. So you’re going to have to cowboy up. Big time. It’s September so no limits due to weather. Go high. Get as far from any roads as you can. Find the steepest terrain you can. The thickest timber imaginable. The place that nobody else wants to go because even if there are elk there it’s just not fun hunting there. Oh and one more thing: Pray. Good luck. Why every hunter starts in Colorado is sure beyond me. Sorry but you asked. By the way Wyoming preference points are on sale from July 1 to the end of October.
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Lefty » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 8]

I lost the last two replies for you

Indian summer write mostly what I had put together only I didn’t use the dead or alive eascapee
Look for dead end trails look for steep up and down
No motorized access and nasty enough no horse will go
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Billy Goat » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 9]

I've not hunted 75, but I've hunted just a bit farther west from there.

Definately recommend you call Durango CDOW and talk to them for feedback. 3rd week of Sept you will probably have muzzleloaders in the unit, but those are draw only and not too many tags, usually. Shouldnt be a big problem.

recommend you focus efforts near, but not necessarily at treeline. +/- 500 ft.

lots of bears in SW Co (at least in "my" unit).

was 75 a draw unit this year for archery? I believe it was OTC in most years in the past.

and welcome to the forum. good guys here, but most have their quirks! :)
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Swede » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 10]

Billy Goat wrote:but most have their quirks!


I assume you are referring to Lefty and Tigger, and maybe RJ.
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Lefty » 06 12, 2020 •  [Post 11]

Swede wrote:
Billy Goat wrote:but most have their quirks!


I assume you are referring to Lefty and Tigger, and maybe RJ.
:lol: :D :oops:

Dang slow and poor reception
Another reason to not hunt out of a tree
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby Billy Goat » 06 13, 2020 •  [Post 12]

Swede wrote:
Billy Goat wrote:but most have their quirks!


I assume you are referring to Lefty and Tigger, and maybe RJ.


them too. sure, Swede. them too. :)
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teach them second to love their family
and third, teach them to hunt and fish,
and by the time they reach their teens, no dope peddler under the sun will ever teach them anything".

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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby poisonarrow » 06 17, 2020 •  [Post 13]

Are you packing in, like on horses or walking? I can help you e scout. I am pretty good at it and that is out of my area.
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Re: First archery elk hunt

Postby poisonarrow » 06 18, 2020 •  [Post 14]

I found an spot in 751 that looks good. It is about a mile and a half in with very little elevation change. It has wallows and steep bedding areas close. It is where I would start looking if I was hunting that area.
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