Colorado Elk Hunting Units

[mattskweres]

Hi ,

First of all, I am not looking for anyone's spot.

We had a pretty bad year. We hunted 42 and I had friends hunt 521 and 39. We simply saw no elk. Some sign, but nothing of significance.

We lost our place last year and we are seeking out any information about potential areas for next year.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you
Matt

[cohunter14]

Matt, is there any more information you can provide? Do you hunt archery, rifle, etc? How do you like to hunt (camp, hotel, bivy, etc)? Also, more details about this year's hunt could be helpful: how long did you hunt, how many people in your group, how many different areas did you cover, etc.

The big thing to remember is that the grass isn't always greener elsewhere. There are elk in those units, it's just a matter of finding them. It sounds like you found where they aren't, which is a step towards finding where they are.

[CurlyTail]

Welcome to the forum Matt! I'm sure we can help you out a bit. Lots of guys here that hunt Colorado.

It would help to know what kind of Elk Hunting you currently do, and what you would like to be doing. Information like group size, age and physical abilities, weapon of choice would all be helpful. Would also be helpful to know what kind of success you guys have had in the past, and what frustrations you encountered in your old area. Do you drive in, use horses, or ATVs, hike?

There is no such thing as a "bad" unit in Colorado. Elk are present in almost all. The hard part is to find them without finding a million other guys with the same idea. Or finding where they hide when the pressure hits. Do you live in Colorado or travel from out of state?

Most guys will not be willing to post specifics on the internet, but some may be willing to send you a PM. I think you need 3 posts to be able to get a PM.

Due to the unusually hot and dry weather this Fall, it seems that the "normal" Elk movements and rut were affected in Colorado this year.

[saddlesore]

Certainly from my experience of hunting both muzzle loader season and 2nd rifle, the abundance of forage/water every where, and warm temperatures kept the elk scattered. I found elk every day in ML season, but usually it was before legal shooting hours. 2nd rifle, a lot of elk were already pushed onto private land, but I did manage to kill a raghorn bull the first day I hunted which was Tuesday, after it opened Saturday. Saturday, I was moose hunting and killed in the1st 15 minutes of the season. That set me back a few days for my elk hunt .

[under H2O hunter]

What part of the state are you looking to hunt? What is your style of hunting? Anything you can share with us will help as to pointing you in a better direction...