elk hunting

[Kurt Henzler]

i am an avid elk hunter (archery only) have gone to colorado for the past 6 years without any help or guide service. i have been to the same place twice and have arrow and elk 5 out of six years. i mostly hunting in the northern units, but with now with all the disease going on, it is a most that i stay away from those units that had any animals test positive.



i would love to chat with someone that can a pittsburgh ,pa fellow a lead in the correct direction. i too hard to scout from here and time is limited to only about a 10 day trip with the arrival of our first child. i will pay to hunt posted property, if its worth it. i have paid trespass fees before , on some of them i saw elk and others i did not. it seems that its not a get what you pay for thing.



i have no interest in guides , just property that has elk, i will find them if they are there. i hunt with my father who is also in great physical condition and has no problems putting on the miles or packing out the meat.



any suggestions i would love some information.

 

[Kurt Henzler]

no elk hunters?

no elk hunters

 

[TexasDodgeRam]

I hunt elk in New Mexico. It is a lottery system and is too late to enter this year.

 

[Rman]

Utah elk hunting is excellent. Archery... sounds like you're experienced, is fabulous. My friends have landed some nice bulls with a bow. The season is nice and long here, plus its first on the list so the bulls aren't gun shy yet. I don't archery hunt yet, I still can't shoot very well. I'll hunt deer but not elk yet, not confident enough and don't like to wound animals and not bag it. Drop a PM if you're interested.

 

[KBennett]

PM sent.

 

[TX Gooseneck]

I use to elk hunt when I was in Colorado. I miss it. We had the fossil bed herd going through our lower pasture. Sometimes you forget you are hunting them and get lost in the magnificient beauty they project as they move through an area. I hear that Wyoming and Montana have good spots as well. I've got a friend in Kalispel, MT that keeps trying to lure me up.

 

[jwdeeming]

Kurt,

I'd love to talk it up with you. I admire the DIY guys - that's what I do but it looks like you're success rate is running higher than mine. Probably due to the length of your hunt. I live here, and am lucky to get a 6 day hunt in. 10 days is excellent! That time in the field I believe is more practical to you than a preseason scout.

What units have you been hunting and are trying to avoid? The worst of the CWD is on the front range (I live in unit 20, one of the hardest hit), but statistically it is still primarily a deer problem. Last year I believe the total was 17 elk. Spread amongst several seasons and the total harvest of about 50,000, your odds are pretty good. And you can always test anyway.

I intend to hunt unit 17 again for the 3rd year in a row.

I think from this map you'll see that each year it's going to get a little harder to hunt the northern half of the state and be in a squeaky clean unit.

http://wildlife.state.co.us/CWD/pdf/TestResultsMaps/TestResultsMap_3-11-04.pdf

I can point you to some options in SW CO too if you'd like. There are three excellent areas that I have spent a couple of seasons in.

What part of the season do you prefer? Early or late? If I could get away with it, I'd do the first week and the last. My only hard rule is I will NOT go in the woods during the Muzzleloader season any more.

Man, I'm getting excited already!

Jim

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I know nothing about this URl except I came across it a couple of months ago. It sounds like it might be just the thing for you. It won't hurt to ask a couple of questions.



http://www.scoutcolorado.com/