Elk & Deer Hunting Near Hayden, CO.

[schwatk]

I live in Southern California and have a good friend whose family owns 650 acres just outside of Hayden CO.. The land is approximately 11 miles south of Yampa Valley Airport in Hayden. It must have elk as a guide takes clients out hunting on the land. My friends family has given me the OK to hunt it next elk season. Right now I only bowhunt.

My question to any of you who know the area. Do you think it is worth a shot? Or is this not a good area and I should look to hunt public land somewhere else.

I have never hunted elk before. So any advise or help would be GREATLY appreciated. I know the #1 answer will be to hire a guide. But I cannot afford one. So it's DIY for me!

I'm also big into flyfishing. So any recommendations on that in the area would be appreciated too.

Please feel free to email me at joe.schwatka@navy.mil

Take care!

Joe

[Curvebow]

Heck, if I had an offer like that, I would go for it! The worst case scenario is that you have tag soup. In 12 hunts to COlorado, I have had this soup 9 times. Even if you hunted elsewhere, there is always a learning curve.

Go for it!

>>>>--------->

[buglmin]

One thing you need to check into is if the outfitter will allow you to hunt. If he leases the ranch to hunt, he has a say so about who can hunt there. So a call to the outfitter will need to be made. When we used to lease land, we only let immedate family hunt.

[easeup]

heck yeh, that should be a good deal. there is quite a bit of good private land hunting in that area all the way south of Yampa.
better verify that you are allowed to hunt as stated above, and not all of those units around Hayden/ Stmbt Sprgs are over the counter tag units.
So you will need to verify the location of the ranch and what unit it is in.

the Yampa is also well known as really good fishing but again much of that river is on private land. so you will have to locate the public access points.

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

11 miles south of the Hayden Airport should put you in prime elk habitat. But if there is an outfitter hunting the property, you should probably get permission from him as well. The outfitter probably has a hunting lease on the property. If this is really the case, the outfitter would have control over who hunts there.

But it sounds like a dream come true if you can pull it off. I know the approximate area of where you are talking about and I have guided in that area for several years in the past. It is a really great elk area if you get the right spot.

I think it would be well worth your time to check into this property and get yourself lined up for a good hunt there. Good luck to you!

[schwatk]

Everyone,

Thanks for the help and info. I've talked with the guide. He is a long time friend of the land owners.
I made it clear that I wouldn't want to go on any dates that he has booked to guide. And he said he
had no problem with me hunting there. He will be out of the country until April. But I can call him when
he gets back to arrange things.

From what I can make out I'll need a tag for GMU13. Can I get a OTC tag for this unit that will allow me to
hunt longer than just the 1 month archery season? It would be nice to hunt a week during September and
then come back later if I'm unsuccessful.

I noticed ther are 2 types of tags: either sex and cow. Why a cow tag if the either sex includes a cow?
I'm thinking I would want an either sex tag. Foremost I want meat in the freezer. But who doesn't dream
of a big rack on the wall too.

Take care!

Joe

[buglmin]

No sir, you can only hunt the month long archery season. No other tags would allow you to hunt longer. And as far as the either sex tag or just a cow tag, buy the either sex tag. That way you have the option of killing a bull or a cow. With a cow tag, you can only kill a cow.

[bearman da man]

Joe - I'm from that area and if the land is near the Flat Tops, you should have a excellent time with opportunites. Be sure to visit the area this summer so you have a feel for the land and ask neighbor land owners where they see the elk. One of my best friends use to be an outfitter in that area and out of 100 tags, would have a historical 95% to 97% success rates......the other 3% to 5% missed!

[Bartfrncs]

I have never hunted gmu13 but if its mostly private you could score big time. It's worth a shot. Have you gotten info from the guide you know that could really help. I consider 1 sqmi a little small but if it consitantly holds elk go for it.
Bart