Make something happen-methods & madness

[easeup]

lets talk....
the last several years in the San Juans, archery hunting has been slow by most measures for alot of guys.
I say the mountains have been way too quiet. In fact my hunt last year 9 straight days, I have never heard a bugle at any time night or day. nor did anyone else I talked too.
( sad, I know). I tried a number of things from the playbook....just could not get it going. so finding any elk was tough. the mountain was dry and poo was slim and far between.

these mountains are mostly thick evergreen stands with mixed aspen, hardly any meadows or open areas. the drought years must have changed things more than my understanding. in a time when things are real slow, we got make something happen.

if those conditions happen again, would you guys just keep plugging, relocate or go to Vegas?

[WapitiTalk1]

What time of the season do you hunt there friend?

[Lefty]

If there arent elk there well yes move,. Or are they hard to find? or just quiet
I get quite excited seeing elk tracks on top of my boot tracks
But if its not how you like to hunt move on
get ahold of the local biologist or CO,..Maybe your just not in the right place at the right time
If you look at my camp pictures you will see black in each of them over 100,000 acres burned in my unit, After speaking to the biologist the cover, tall 100 year old Idaho sage may never recover, but the unknown is how important was the sage in the bedding area for elk ..
I may very well be looking for new hunting ground myself,.... I wont make that desicion untill the week before the hunt

[JohnFitzgerald]

If that happened to me, I would absolutely relocate. Find a spot where the poo is ankle deep and the bulls sing sweet lullabies every night!

[welka]

Agree that it sounds like you need to move. Might try getting up at 2am and get close to where you think they usually feed and listed from 2-4am just to see if they are around before bolting.

[eltaco]

Gotta hunt where the elk are... sounds obvious but I'm thick headed when it comes to moving from "my spot" too. The last two years in northern CO have been phenomenal for us, but I'm finding that they just aren't there during the last week of season. I used to just work my tail off but relocating has changed the game for me.

[buglmin]

I live here in the San Juans, and know the problem youre spaking of. Truth be told, our elk population was very low, due to the high winter kills of 2008 and 2009. Thought at first this winter would be a mild one like 2011, but late winter storms dumped a lot of snow, and I dont know how the herd did. I do know you dont see the high elk numbers on the wintering grounds, and know the Southern Ute have been hammering the bulls in December and January, killing a lot of them...
I think its time to have a back up plan in place for elk, just like we do for mule deer. Ive got some good friends in the Denver area, the Buena Vista area that are always inviting me up so they can show me some country, so maybe this year might be the year I take them up on their offer...

[Swede]

I too hunt where the elk population is relatively low. Look for places where you can find a freshly used water hole and/or wallow. Check trails for tracks and look out for fresh rubs. If there are no tracks, fresh rubs and the water holes look like nothing is using them, then move. If you can find evidence of current use then set up a tree stand where they come to water. For me drought can be a benefit, but not harsh winters. Harsh winters and drought do not fit together. Did the harsh winters follow the drought?

[bowhunterty]

Move to another area. I usually scout a few areas before the season. If one is not producing then I head for another. When I get into elk I get after it.

[easeup]

What time of the season do you hunt there friend?

I nearly always go in late Sept.

CO has had some really tough droughts the last two years.

[Trophyhill]

according to the dow website it has 2 units around Durango lumped together with a fair amount of elk at 5040 animals. then on the other side of Durango they lump 5 units together with a total of 17,560 animals. so there are elk there. sounds like a few trips may be required for scouting. may as well take your flyrod if i don't draw you are welcome at my camp in my favorite otc unit