Colorado Area 15 (need help)
03-05-2003, 04:57 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location:
Posts: 1
Colorado Area 15 (need help)
Hi guys,
Need some help I am from Kentucky going to hunt elk in area 15 in the 3rd season atleast that is what I applied for. I hunted this area two years ago and it was the first time I ever hunted elk, i' m still kinda of lost. Talked to some guys and they said to hunt the meadows with no luck well after 6 days of 70 degree weather I decided to go to top of the mountain and did see three cows but couldn' t get a shot. Last day it rained so hard we didn' t hunt my brother was afraid of getting truck stuck. Like I said I usually hunt whitetail and have had good success in the last 15 years I need some help since they are so different than whitetail. I guess i' m asking how do you go about hunting these animals do you keep walking till you find the herd? I will be hunting for a cow. Should I carry a cow call? If it is warm do you try to stay up high and if its cold do you stay low? In Kentucky we usaully try to find sign of deer then set up a tree stand and wait but i don' t know elk hunting if you find sign do you wait or do you keep going to you actually find the herd and then try to stalk them. If this is the case I heard them roam alot how do you guys go about finding the herd? any links or advice would be greatly appreciated, sorry for so long but I wanted to understood excactly what information I needed.
Thank You
Need some help I am from Kentucky going to hunt elk in area 15 in the 3rd season atleast that is what I applied for. I hunted this area two years ago and it was the first time I ever hunted elk, i' m still kinda of lost. Talked to some guys and they said to hunt the meadows with no luck well after 6 days of 70 degree weather I decided to go to top of the mountain and did see three cows but couldn' t get a shot. Last day it rained so hard we didn' t hunt my brother was afraid of getting truck stuck. Like I said I usually hunt whitetail and have had good success in the last 15 years I need some help since they are so different than whitetail. I guess i' m asking how do you go about hunting these animals do you keep walking till you find the herd? I will be hunting for a cow. Should I carry a cow call? If it is warm do you try to stay up high and if its cold do you stay low? In Kentucky we usaully try to find sign of deer then set up a tree stand and wait but i don' t know elk hunting if you find sign do you wait or do you keep going to you actually find the herd and then try to stalk them. If this is the case I heard them roam alot how do you guys go about finding the herd? any links or advice would be greatly appreciated, sorry for so long but I wanted to understood excactly what information I needed.
Thank You
03-05-2003, 07:59 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rifle, Colorado
Posts: 2,012
RE: Colorado Area 15 (need help)
Terrymo,
Hunting 3rd season elk in Colorado the first thing you have to do is pray for snow
This will push the elk out of a fair bit of land and make your job easier. When it' s warm, most elk are still up high and you' ll have to put a few more miles on to find them.
The biggest problem that I had when I moved to Colorado and started hunting elk is that I still had the whitetail hunting mind from Wisconsin. There, deer are just about everywhere, and if your patient enough your going to see one eventually no matter what. But elk, either they are on your mountain, or they aren' t. I' ve found that for myself I' m better off taking a few days off of work early and scouting right before the season starts (a day or two) Most of this time is spent driving/hiking around my unit and looking for elk, and talking to the hunters that are just ending there season that week. I' ve always run into some great hunters that are willing to tell you the real story about what is going on. Very helpful!
During my actual hunt I normally hunt meadows in the morning/nights, and hike my butt off during the day looking for sign and elk. I stop alot and glass when I find something that looks like it should hold elk, dark timber in heat, sunny slopes in cold. When I' m hiking/walking there is always a fine line between covering ground and being stealthy. You can' t find elk that aren' t there so walk fast, but if you spook some that are there, you' ll probably never see them again.
Don' t know if any of this was really helpful, but good luck
By the way, I was in Unit 15 the last 3 days snowmobiling (Rabbit Ears Pass) and sure was fun. Saw upwards of 500 elk down towards Yampa eatting the crop lands
Hunting 3rd season elk in Colorado the first thing you have to do is pray for snow
This will push the elk out of a fair bit of land and make your job easier. When it' s warm, most elk are still up high and you' ll have to put a few more miles on to find them. The biggest problem that I had when I moved to Colorado and started hunting elk is that I still had the whitetail hunting mind from Wisconsin. There, deer are just about everywhere, and if your patient enough your going to see one eventually no matter what. But elk, either they are on your mountain, or they aren' t. I' ve found that for myself I' m better off taking a few days off of work early and scouting right before the season starts (a day or two) Most of this time is spent driving/hiking around my unit and looking for elk, and talking to the hunters that are just ending there season that week. I' ve always run into some great hunters that are willing to tell you the real story about what is going on. Very helpful!
During my actual hunt I normally hunt meadows in the morning/nights, and hike my butt off during the day looking for sign and elk. I stop alot and glass when I find something that looks like it should hold elk, dark timber in heat, sunny slopes in cold. When I' m hiking/walking there is always a fine line between covering ground and being stealthy. You can' t find elk that aren' t there so walk fast, but if you spook some that are there, you' ll probably never see them again.
Don' t know if any of this was really helpful, but good luck
By the way, I was in Unit 15 the last 3 days snowmobiling (Rabbit Ears Pass) and sure was fun. Saw upwards of 500 elk down towards Yampa eatting the crop lands
03-08-2003, 04:15 PM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Joplin MO USA
Posts: 205
RE: Colorado Area 15 (need help)
I can' t give alot of advice about how to hunt the elk, been 3 years and have not got one yet but I did hunt unit 15 in 2001 for archery. I am going back this year for archery. We are mainly going for Mule deer this time we saw bunches of them last time but if we get into the elk we will go to town and get a tag. It is really nice country and we did get into elk after 3 days looking, just couldn' t get one close enough for a bow shot.
03-08-2003, 06:13 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: illinois
Posts: 2,019
RE: Colorado Area 15 (need help)
i have hunted unit 16 for the last two years. first year i spent first four days of the season just trying to find them , lots and lots of walking and glassing i took a 5x5 the last day about 8:00 am.this year i went twice first for plo cow only season there were 8 of us hunting this area and for first three days no one saw any elk , fourth day am i saw two spikes in the am and it got windy up high so i moved for the pm hunt saw three cows and knowing the lay of the land i was able to head them off . they came out about 30 ft from me and i took the lead cow. went back about 10 days later and took my oldest son with me. saw one cow second am and due to the weather warming up planned on setting up on pond for the pm right before dark my son took his first elk a nice cow . the next afternoon i filled my tag about 100 yards from where he took his. i was used to whitetail hunting to but think i have made the transition . it is hard to believe they can be so elusive
03-08-2003, 08:44 PM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Gillette Wyoming USA
Posts: 31
RE: Colorado Area 15 (need help)
Howdy terrymo,
What Jorgy said sounds right on. Nobody' s gonna broadcast a specific park or drainage here, but someone who' s season is over in 15 might.
I hunt wyoming, but it' s all pretty similar. Nobody showed me how to do it. I just read and listened to all I could about elk. A lot of people on this bbs have excellent advice.
Took me 5 years to get my first. I hunted too many different areas. I sat on old sign too much.
Those first years, on the last couple of days, I' d be tired, cussing taking my only week off to get up way too early, go to bed too late, and never see any elk when I would. I' d be telling myself that I was never comming back when I' d stumble into those light colored rumps high-ballin it away from me in the trees. I never had a decent shot, but that was all it took to get me back the next year. I' m glad I did come back, and you will be too! Good luck!
What Jorgy said sounds right on. Nobody' s gonna broadcast a specific park or drainage here, but someone who' s season is over in 15 might.
I hunt wyoming, but it' s all pretty similar. Nobody showed me how to do it. I just read and listened to all I could about elk. A lot of people on this bbs have excellent advice.
Took me 5 years to get my first. I hunted too many different areas. I sat on old sign too much.
Those first years, on the last couple of days, I' d be tired, cussing taking my only week off to get up way too early, go to bed too late, and never see any elk when I would. I' d be telling myself that I was never comming back when I' d stumble into those light colored rumps high-ballin it away from me in the trees. I never had a decent shot, but that was all it took to get me back the next year. I' m glad I did come back, and you will be too! Good luck!
03-17-2003, 02:45 PM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Berthoud CO USA
Posts: 72
