CO Bull elk GMU’s
- Thread starter Kramerica
- Start date
62, out west near Montrose and Delta. I will say it has been about 6 years since I was there, but it was gorgeous and had good accessibility from a couple main roads. If you get something, you could be in for a serious effort to get it out. Some areas have a lot of steep terrain. The adjacent unit 61 is a special draw unit and has some nice animals in it. If you can get an early hunt in on 62, you stand a good chance of seeing something. Later in the season, much of the game will move west into 61 where there is less hunting pressure.
jepp2
Gold $$ Contributor
Have you elk hunted in CO before? The reason I ask, is if you haven't, you might be surprised at the number of hunters on public lands during the various rifle seasons. I assume you don't have any preference points currently?
I have archery hunted elk in CO several years. Then I moved to CO. Since then, I have muzzleloader hunted elk. To me it is the ideal way to hunt elk. Peak of the rut, mild weather, much lower hunting pressure, need I say more?
I have hunted a good bit in GMU 19, and I'm not challenging Scott (effendude), but that hasn't necessarily been my experience. But maybe he has hot spots I haven't run across. But how you hunt, will probably dictate which GMU's I would suggest.
I use to live Fort Collins, off of Harmony Rd and that was south boundary for 19. We had horses so easy to hunt it and we did good. I don't have horses any more but try get up there from 171/18 and we spend all archery season around there. I don't think those ML ever get of ATV's.
Yes I hunted in southern CO a couple years back. It was pretty terrible, lots of orange but no elk on public land. No I don’t have points. And my style of hunting is anything, I can sit in a stand or blind or I can spot and stalk doesn’t matter.
I can tell you of some units to avoid.
44,444,45,47,471 I know those units pretty well and the elk numbers are way down, hunters numbers seem as high as ever. In all of those units except 471 the elk numbers are so much in trouble that archery season is now bulls only, and the private land cow tags do not exist anymore.
I have hunted unit 61, a great hunt with lots of animals. There was still a fair amount of pressure due to bear hunters, cow elk hunters, and grouse hunters. But, with a resident archery tag requiring about 13 points, not much chance to hunt there.
From what I have seen and heard, there are very few places in colorado that don't have high hunting pressure, even if you pack in several miles. Even archery season has gotten out of hand.
44,444,45,47,471 I know those units pretty well and the elk numbers are way down, hunters numbers seem as high as ever. In all of those units except 471 the elk numbers are so much in trouble that archery season is now bulls only, and the private land cow tags do not exist anymore.
I have hunted unit 61, a great hunt with lots of animals. There was still a fair amount of pressure due to bear hunters, cow elk hunters, and grouse hunters. But, with a resident archery tag requiring about 13 points, not much chance to hunt there.
From what I have seen and heard, there are very few places in colorado that don't have high hunting pressure, even if you pack in several miles. Even archery season has gotten out of hand.
A guy in a different topic/thread said younger hunters might be better off saving and doing a private land / guided hunt. That’d run about $4k- $5k. Public land OTC cost me roughly $1k with travel tags, food etc. I get the logic behind that statement. And from the very limited experience I have out there, I’m inclined to agree with his statement. Public land I could go on 4 hunts for the money of 1 guided hunt but it looked like the success rate of those private land hunts would be much higher then public land. That said I’ll probably stick to the public land because I just can’t swing $4k on one hunt. $1k every few years is tough enough.
My opinion is that an out-of-state hunter has a far better chance of getting drawn in 61 than an in-state hunter . I live in 62 and pretty well given up drawing in 61, yet have had out-of-state people tell me they have drawn 4 years in a row for bull and I was only after a cow elk.
Biggest bull I ever saw was running out of 62 and crossing the road and heading for 61
Biggest bull I ever saw was running out of 62 and crossing the road and heading for 61
The statistics do not bear that out. Points required for 61 in archery, muzzloader, and 1st rifle are quite high. The later seasons are much lower. I have had people tell me they got X tag with few points, but then look it up and find that their story is disproven by the statistics provided on the DOW website. There are statistics that show exactly how many people applied, how many points they had, and the number of points used for each tag issued. There is a wealth of information to be had as far as statistics go.
You can click on this
https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/Elk/2018ElkDrawRecap.pdf
Those are draw result and you can look up hunt code and give you who drew what.
Well, you know it is said that "there are lies, damned lies and statistics". I am just reporting from experience. I help out with out sight-in days at our range and the same group 4 years in a row were there, telling me they drew in 61. I had 3 points that first year and put in for cow elk second season first choice and third season second choice, and never drew those 4 years. You draw your conclusions and I will draw mine.
Weather and moon phase are critical, as to where the elk locate, at a given time. If it's warm with a bright moon, the odds are tough. Get 3' of snow, lots of hunters bail outa the high country and the elk are up and feeding longer hours.
I bought OTC tags for country I'd never hunted before, in '16 and went back in '17. Took a 6pt and 4pt, within 50 yds of each other. I just found a high country saddle, with lots of fresh sign and sat on it. The only bad thing about that place was the packout.....about 4 miles, up and down to a road.
I bought OTC tags for country I'd never hunted before, in '16 and went back in '17. Took a 6pt and 4pt, within 50 yds of each other. I just found a high country saddle, with lots of fresh sign and sat on it. The only bad thing about that place was the packout.....about 4 miles, up and down to a road.
Not know year is little hard to look up. I did look up 61 2nd season and no one drew without point resident/non resident. You had problem why didn't check with DOW and you cam get draw result Hell on point crept I had wait 11yr to draw deer. Are your really going to say you didn't hunt elk those years and dammed lies too
Mulligan
Silver $$ Contributor
Land owners can get tags and sell them. That is likely the only way a non-resident will draw that often.
In some units the elk numbers are down, maybe more than I know. The DOW is looking into it, doing studies and such. Bears and lions along with hunting pressure are the culprits highest on the list.
Colorado has a lot of elk, and a very large slice of the their range is public.
If you want to see elk and a raghorn (first year branch antler 4 or 5 pt) bull is OK, go to the White River NF. Very large herd, plenty of good bulls and plenty of raghorns. Cline tops, elk creek, meadow res, are all good. All the county around Meeker is good, south of Silt is good.
The Uncompahgre NF (62 and 61) is still good but the numbers are down.
Here's the thing, elk do not like people. The 1/2 mile of county closest to the road gets beat up pretty hard. If you get a mile or so off the road, you will likely have a large piece of real-estate to your self after the opener.
Heck, there is lots of good hunting areas.
CW
In some units the elk numbers are down, maybe more than I know. The DOW is looking into it, doing studies and such. Bears and lions along with hunting pressure are the culprits highest on the list.
Colorado has a lot of elk, and a very large slice of the their range is public.
If you want to see elk and a raghorn (first year branch antler 4 or 5 pt) bull is OK, go to the White River NF. Very large herd, plenty of good bulls and plenty of raghorns. Cline tops, elk creek, meadow res, are all good. All the county around Meeker is good, south of Silt is good.
The Uncompahgre NF (62 and 61) is still good but the numbers are down.
Here's the thing, elk do not like people. The 1/2 mile of county closest to the road gets beat up pretty hard. If you get a mile or so off the road, you will likely have a large piece of real-estate to your self after the opener.
Heck, there is lots of good hunting areas.
CW
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.