? for Still Hunter and other MZ hunters

[>>>---WW---->]

First of all, wELKome back Still Hunter!

I used to manage a popular Nat. Forest campground that saw a lot of activity during the hunting seasons. So I was wonder if your experiences with muzzle loader hunters was similar to mine.

Probably about 90% of the smokepole guys would show up on Friday before the opener. They would hunt all day Saturday and maybe a short hunt on Sunday AM. Then they would pack up camp and head back to the east slope, saying they would return the following weekend. Very, very few of them ever came back.

The only group that spent the entire 9 day season during the five years I was up there, was a group of four guys from Wisconsin. And they had riding mules.

When I archery hunted the same area, I would stay home during the first weekend. After that I could hunt the remainder of the muzzy season and never see one of those guys.

So I was just wondering if you noticed a similar pattern. Maybe the area you hunt is different.

[cnelk]

WW
Where I hunt the MZ hunters last a couple days longer than that.
Usually departing about Wednesday.

[Madison COunty]

WW
Where I hunt the MZ hunters last a couple days longer than that.
Usually departing about Wednesday.

Do you see them with many elk?

[cnelk]

Im like WW.
I dont go during that time so Im not really sure how they do

[Still Hunter]

Yes, that's exactly what I see. Most ML hunters are rifle hunters. They buy a muzzleloader so they can hunt an extra season. The inline muzzleloader has made that very easy. They're not dedicated to the hunt. They're used to taking long shots. It's not what they expected, and give up, or hang out in camp all day.

Frankly, it's a shame they use up the tag quota, and screw a dedicated ML hunter from getting one.

In a way I count on it now. I hardly ever hunt the first weekend of a 9 day hunt. I also count on bow hunters not hunting during the ML season. They run together in Colorado, but bow hunters get a whole month.

[cnelk]

I shot this bull on Friday on the MZ season last year - nobody around -------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Elkduds]

I have hunted CO GMUs 40, 62, 421 during ML season. All are close to Grand Junction, biggest town between Denver and Salt Lake City. Heavy hunting pressure during 1st weekend, 2nd weekend less than half the pressure. Most hunters leave Sun-Mon of 1st weekend. Success rates vary, see CPW harvest statistics for results by gender, season, unit, including #s of hunters and total user days by unit for each year. Good luck.