Elk Hunt

[HB]

I am in the process of planning my first elk hunt. It will take place in Colorado during archery (muzzleloader if good draw) season, mid sept.

I've never hunted west of Kansas City but consider myself a proficient outdoorsman in the Midwest. However I've never hunted elk.

During early elk season what is the general plan? I assume they are pre rut but not sure what that means for hunting a herd animal in unfamiliar territory.

Most animals you want to kill between their bed and their kitchen, what should I look for in western CO? How do I pick a unit to hunt sight unseen?

It seems most discussions here are equipment based but we all know that is a very small part of making meat. Any and all input is appreciated!

PS, I have been west a few times but never to hunt. I'm aware I have 9 months of intense physical training ahead of me.

-HB

 

[jmr40]

Start here:

http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/hunt.aspx

This is the Colorado hunting regulations. I haven't looked though one in a couple of years but there are maps of the state and the hunting units. At one time there were links to some sites that gave descriptions of the hunting units.

 

[Patocazador]

My first elk hunt made me aware of one major fact, elk are NOT deer. Whitetails have home ranges and are creatures of habit. If you see a nice buck in an area, it's a pretty safe bet that he'll be there right along. Elk are migrators and the next valley has grass just like the one where you saw all the tracks and poop. He doesn't prefer a certain spot like the whitetail.

Get ready for some major high altitude hiking.

 

[HB]

Thanks for the replies thus far.

How about calling during sept? Generally I subscribe to less is more.
HB

 

[X-Rap]

For a first time DIY elk hunt to CO I'd look hard at the public pinion and juniper slopes adjacent to private agricultural land.
Start along some of the main water ways like the White, Tampa, Colorado, Roaring Fork, Uncompagre, Gunnison, Dolores to name a few.
The elk will travel considerable distance to feed in green hay fields and drink from clear streams and ditches.
Craigslist often has ads for landowners permits or many landowners will sell trespass but public access is available in much of the surrounding lands.
Master the cow call and move to the bugles.
Have a plan to deal with the meat quickly and efficiently, gutless quartering and meat bags (don't count on dragging it further than to get it in the shade) don't leave one in the field overnight unless it's quartered bagged and hanging or it sour, especially that time of year.

 

[jmr40]

This is a helpful link that can be found in the CO hunting regs I posted above. You can customize the map to show traditional winter and summer ranges for elk as well as normal migration routes.

http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/index.html?app=HuntingAtlas

Once you start narrowing down specific areas google earth can be a huge aid to actually see the land. You can pinpoint specific areas of interest, note the GPS coordinates and put them into a GPS before you even leave home.

I'd also highly advise getting one of the hunting SD cards for a GPS. They show boundaries where private property lines are. Could save you a huge fine.

 

[Don McDowell]

Thanks for the replies thus far.

How about calling during sept? Generally I subscribe to less is more.
HB

You might want to get a hoochie momma cow call that Primos makes or at least used to, and only speak when spoken to.
Leave the bugling alone until you spent time listening to real elk and how they bugle. It's a whole lot different than what you hear on the tv infomercials. More elk have been busted out of their basins by goof balls and their bugles, than you can shake a stick at.

 

[X-Rap]

The Hoochie Momma was the stuff back in the day but I think most elk have been tuned up on its sound.
It sure has a reputation but I'd also spend a lot of time listening to recordings and practising with a reed. It's something you can do while you drive to work, focus on mastering the call and all the tones it can make.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Being a life long elk hunter you have ask a good question. Make sure you prepare for snow and cold weather. Other than that just follow X-Raps instructions. X-Rap has obviously hunted elk and is giving you good advise.

 

[horsey300]

This is a helpful link that can be found in the CO hunting regs I posted above. You can customize the map to show traditional winter and summer ranges for elk as well as normal migration routes.

http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/index.html?app=HuntingAtlas

Once you start narrowing down specific areas google earth can be a huge aid to actually see the land. You can pinpoint specific areas of interest, note the GPS coordinates and put them into a GPS before you even leave home.

I'd also highly advise getting one of the hunting SD cards for a GPS. They show boundaries where private property lines are. Could save you a huge fine.

I also have an Android app that does the same thing as the SD card that I've found quite useful for foreign areas, it will also show you how the wind will affect your hunt based on weather predictions. Just another option, you can also save the area map so that if you're out of service you can still use the data. I really can't describe all the features without buggering it up, but maybe worth looking into as well....it's called HuntStand

 

[Dog Soldier]

horsey, all good points. The migration of elk down to lower elevations can begin with a cold rain or a wet snow. I never knew an elk hunter that didn't pray for snow during a warm fall.
We have some 4,000 head that migrate through our valley each Fall on their way down to Utah.

 

[horsey300]

I've got horses and pack saddles and I'm in decent shape. Seen plenty of elk within easy access points in the black hills, but if I'm hunting the Rockies for ANYTHING I would want cold temps and a lil snow, it's not a secret that animals come down in the cold.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Well horsey, I scoped you out early on. I knew you were an experienced Western Hunter. Sounds like you are up around Sundance or over in South Dakota.

 

[Don McDowell]

The Hoochie Momma was the stuff back in the day but I think most elk have been tuned up on its sound.
It sure has a reputation but I'd also spend a lot of time listening to recordings and practising with a reed. It's something you can do while you drive to work, focus on mastering the call and all the tones it can make.

The Hoochie Momma is a simple thing to use, and it's almost impossible to "say the wrong thing" like it is with a lot of the other calls available. Great for someone who hasn't spent time in elk country, and lived around, and hunted elk for over 50 years like some of us have. I prefer a diaphragm that can be used as either a cow call or a bugle.

 

[X-Rap]

I've come to believe that there are differing groups of elk and their ranges are vastly different.
We've been seeing elk in good numbers year around below 6,000' for 15-20 years around Rifle CO.
There are still a bunch up high but no shortage in PJ's and oak brush.
In country that drops down to low valleys quickly the elk seem quicker to pull the plug when the weather turns.
Higher up where the valleys are at 8 or 9,000 the elk seem to not run from the weather as much.

 

[X-Rap]

Not trying to argue with you Don but if you don't pick it up sometime you never will.
A reed can be used for turkey, predators or elk with great success the trick the OP needs to learn is how to play the right music.
Kind of like a guitar, it'll play rock and roll or country.

 

[Don McDowell]

I think a lot of it has to do with the range conditions. Dry year up high and everybody is moving down. Good grass and there will be some stay high until the snow absolutely drives them out, while others will bail out when the hunting pressure starts building and they know they can get to the lower country with more sanctuary and less nonsense to put up with where all the orangemen and their smelly machines operate.

 

[Don McDowell]

Not trying to argue with you Don but if you don't pick it up sometime you never will.
A reed can be used for turkey, predators or elk with great success the trick the OP needs to learn is how to play the right music.
Kind of like a guitar, it'll play rock and roll or country.

This is true, but like a guitar, if you've never heard the tune and know the proper rhythm all the dancers are going out to the parking lot and drinking..

 

[horsey300]

Well horsey, I scoped you out early on. I knew you were an experienced Western Hunter. Sounds like you are up around Sundance or over in South Dakota.

Close, spent TONS of time from great falls MT to Sundance to the Cloud peak area to spearfish and rapid city. Just about perfectly one day drive from everywhere I want to scope, little farther from Idaho than I'd like, farthest I've been south was Co Springs and Montrose. Packing in for a month with feet of snow on the ground and a cabin or outfitter type tent, chainsaw and rifle get me all kinds of quivery lol. We've got elk about 12 miles north of me here on the wyobrakota border but the terrain is dull and the weather is mild too. You might have seen or heard of Ft Robinson, they're just a hop skip and jump off my turf. Elk in the Rockies and Idaho black bear are on the radar in the near future so I'm doing homework all the time (my mt relatives are getting thin) and like to share what I HAVE gathered from folks like my great uncle who hunts his wapiti with a .72 minie ball.

 

[HB]

The advice thus far is much appreciated, especially the link to the game map. It sounds like I'll be hunting turkey on a much grander scale... in a place I've never hunted haha.

Obviously wind/concealing movement is highly important.

But what if I see a herd down in a valley a long ways off with the wrong wind? What is the plan? Sit it out and hopefully wind changes before dark?

I have killed a couple whitetail from the ground but they have been basically ambushes in the right wind. How far off can a herd smell 2 guys?


Thanks again,

 

[Don McDowell]

Elk have amazing eyesight, probably comparable to antelope, they survive the natural prey by their eyesight, hearing and sense of smell. And the whispy winds can carry scent a long way.

Have a chuckle in your mention of turkey. I had a hunter from back east, and we were set up a bit below timberline, listening to a couple of bulls tell each other off, one of them was getting pretty boisterous. The hunter says, you know that really cool to hear, but I still think a wild turkey tom coming in is a lot more exciting. I just looked at him and said, when you get a turkey tom can come in with fire in his eyes, 50 lbs of grass hanging off his horns, pee on his chin and spit in your face while turning a 6 in. spruce to tooth picks let me know, I wanna hunt one of them bad boys.
If it's hot elk like the north ridges and thick timber during the day. Cooler weather they'll seek the warmer side of the hill and graze a bit. If it's hot and the flies are still bugging them, they'll often lay right on top of an open ridge to let the wind keep the flies off.
Always keep in mind when gazing lustfully across a canyon/valley, if you go over there and kill one, you're going to have to pack it out, so size up the terrain carefully and be dang sure you're wanting to pack a 100 pounds of meat back across the thing and over the mountain back to camp.

 

[HB]

^In the unlikely event I get within bow range, I hope I have the wherewithal to consider the pack out.

I stalked/killed a doe with my bow about 1.5 miles into public this year and it was not fun getting it out. Sept in Missouri is about like being in a steamy trash bag full of mosquitoes. I don't think me and a buddy could pack an elk out in time to avoid spoilage in many cases.

 

[Don McDowell]

Getting one out is a bunch easier if you camp and the bottom of the mountain and hunt up.
A good little outfit to get an elk out even by your self, is one of those heavy poly 5 ft. toboggans. The shallow ones they sell for sledding. 1 person can drag a 1/2 elk out with them. You can cut one into 5 piece's taking taking the loins and taking the shoulders as separate pieces on a pack frame, that gets you down to 5 trips back to the kill site.
The main thing in the warm weather is to get the hide off and get the quarters hung in the shade. Depending on the elevation you're hunting at the day time temps may not get much above 70, and cold enough at night to put a skim of ice on still water.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Well now 3 guys from Wyoming swapping tales has put the other members to sleep. One of you from the Black Hills and one from the Pumpkin Butts. I know most places in Wyoming. I worked in Exploration, Production and mining. I spent many days in Spearfish Horsey. I have hunted Whitetail and turkey in the shadow of Devil's Tower. Spent time in the Great Thunder Grass Lands. I expect you fellows know TNT Guns?
If you ever drift down to Uinta County we must visit.

 

[Don McDowell]

I'm a good long ways from Pumpkin Butte, but yes I know TNT in Gillette. Also spent a good many years in the Red Desert, Green River, Granger and the Bridger Valley, but that was a long time ago, in a land far far away..