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Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

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Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby maxracx » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 1]

Good day Wapiti Talk, I am a new poster on this forum. I have been a frequent poster on Hunttalk and bowsite. My family are all life members of RMEF, headed to local banquet tonight. I have been fortunate to hunt elk in Colorado, Wyoming and Alberta with success in all. After my last hunt I told my wife I need to hunt elk every year that my body allows me to. Now my focus is to get her an elk of her own. I have done drop camps and guided hunts. At 54 years old the high elevation hunts are become much more challenging. Coming from WI we don't have too many opportunities to train in elevation. In the Spring and Summer months we hike the local ski hill with our dogs. This helps but still is never enough.
My question is this, we are looking to do some DIY archery elk hunts in the future and I would like to meet/talk with someone who currently lives/lived in Colorado that would be willing to share some insight of where to start and/or not start. I know this is a loaded question and I am not asking for anyone's honey hole but Colorado is a big state with lots of elk. I have been researching mostly OTC units on OnX and Go Hunt but maybe someone has some personal intel they are willing to share. We are open to paying a trespass fee to hunt private or to cross to hunt public. Thank you in advance.

If anyone is interested in hunting whitetails in WI I would be happy to point you in the right direction.

The funny part is I have seen posts like this for years and have always said to myself, "Good luck with that!!"
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Jhg » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 2]

Howdy and welcome. Regarding Colorado, where I live, avoid the areas that allow off road vehicles. Trust me, you do not want them where you hunt. I have often seen them drive across prime elk habitat on their way to some trailhead. Obviously, what would have been huntable terrain was now void of any elk. When you mix hunters who would rather ride than walk through good elk habitat with hunters who know better is a conflict of interest.

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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby saddlesore » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 3]

First thing I would mention is avoid OTC units. In the last five years the number of hunters have grown exponentially, for both rifle and archery.. Archery hunters are seeing more and more OTC units go to draw units because of over crowding. A big part of the problem is Colorado is the dumpig ground for everyone that did not draw a tag in other states. The advice has always been to get in 5 miles to see less hunters. That is getting to be not true. That far in, you start to see hunters coming in from the other side. because Colorado does not have big wilderness areas like MT,WY,ID.. Presently CPW (Colorado Wildlife Dept) is stuggling for ways to distribute tags , both changing OTC to draw, limiting tag numbers, and reducing season lengths.

The other problem is Forest Service seems to be letting out more and more Outfitter permits because of hunter demand and that adds to the over crowding. We see less and less private land open to hunting because now it is leased to hunting groups or outfitters.The days of knocking on doors to get permission to hunt are long gone. Finding someone who you pay a trespass fee to acces private poperty is darn slim because of all the leasing.

Visit some Facebook pages like "I Hun t Colorado " and "Colorado Elk Hunters",and you will find several posts every day exactly like yours to get an idea of the numbers. .

I am not against nonresident hunters.I have helped several on this and other forums as to where to go etc. and have hunted with them. Being a Colorado resident hunter, I have hunted here for 45+ years. I have killed elk 99% of those years.Sometimes more than one a year, but I have prettty much ended my hunting career due to health and age. . All the areas I have hunted have basically been ruined/over hunted . I see new bicycle trails, ATV trails, outdoor recreationionlist every month of the year in those same areas now..Our wilderness and NationaForest are being loved to death or burned due to wildires every year. Peple contact me now,and I can't send them to great or even good units any more.

I would advise looking to Wyoming, Montana or Idaho.. If you are set on hunting Colorado, pick up a copy of Colorado Outdoors magazine, February issue and look at herd count numbers all over the state. Conpare those numbers with how many Game Managment Units each herd is counted .Big numbers some times are for many GMU's compared to other parts of the state. Units,12 13, 23,24,25 in the Flat Tops, has the biggest numbers, but the most hunters.

I am sure other members here will echo my sentiments,but I wish you good luck
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Swede » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 4]

Welcome to the forum maxracx. I have a question. Which unit world be the best to hunt? Would it be a 20% success unit in Colorado, a 20% success unit in Idaho or a 20% success unit in Oregon. All of the good units in Oregon are going to a draw, but I don't think they will take extra points to draw for a while. You can hunt at 5,000 - 6,000-foot elevation almost everywhere. Big bulls are hard to come by, but that is the same for other easy to draw units in other states. Just a thought.
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby saddlesore » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 5]

Archery hunt success rate in Colorado is less than 10% and that is for all elk killed, bulls,cows, and calves
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Swede » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 6]

I think overall Oregon's archery success is about 10%, there are some units that are better. Stay out of the Cascades if you want more than good scenery on your hunt. The desert SE units have some big bulls, but you better know your area and have some ace in the hole to make it work.
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 7]

Welcome to our pack macracx, glad to have you on board. As some mentioned, don’t sleep on MT, ID, WY, or even OR and WA. There are elk in other states than CO, really there are. Don’t limit your options to one state and your odds of success will increase. Do your research on each of the western elk states and you may be surprised at what you find.
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Lefty » 03 05, 2022 •  [Post 8]

Welcome aboard!!! :D


Just jump in on anything. 8-)
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Thegreatwapiti » 03 06, 2022 •  [Post 9]

Welcome to the site! Ask me anything. Thegreatwapiti at outlook dot com
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Swede » 03 06, 2022 •  [Post 10]

Thegreatwapiti wrote:Ask me anything. Thegreatwapiti at outlook dot com


I wish I could say something like that. Of course, At age 74 I have only lived in or near the forests a little over 70 years and hunted about 65 of them. I still have so much to learn; I feel I can only share observations and hazard a guess on so many things. But I guess you can ask me anything, but I am not claiming any franchise on good answers. Usually when I see something that I am skeptical of; I just say, "that is not what I have observed." That is unless I am commenting on something posted by Lefty or Tigger. With them I just retort that their post is "nonsense". :D
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby maxracx » 03 06, 2022 •  [Post 11]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. My wife and I spent the day splitting and stacking firewood today. As I am on the splitter my mind drifts off to the mountains and some of the memories of past hunts. I have been fortunate to go on a number of elk hunts. Now it is time for my bride to come along. Our kids are now grown and out of the house so we don't have anything holding us back except maybe the pocketbook. We can't afford any of those high priced/high success guided hunts. She now has to rely on me in hopes that I learned a thing or two on the hunts I have been on over the years. I would gladly allow her to be the hunter and me the guide from here out.
I started to purchase preference points in Wyoming, Colorado and Montana for deer and elk for both of us.
I understand the OTC tag situation in Colorado, truly a free for all.
At 54 I hope to spend as much time as possible in the mountains. It's funny we have friends that go south for vacations in the winters to get away from the cold but we enjoy the WI winters. If I am going to burn any time off it will be out West in Sept and Oct.
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Indian Summer » 03 06, 2022 •  [Post 12]

Dude…. If you’re going to get started somewhere new don’t make it the state that’s the Walmart of elk hunting! Too much pressure! And lots of other issues on the horizon.
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Lefty » 03 06, 2022 •  [Post 13]

Swede wrote:
Thegreatwapiti wrote:Ask me anything. Thegreatwapiti at outlook dot com

That is unless I am commenting on something posted by Lefty or Tigger. With them I just retort that their post is "nonsense". :D


I was so temped have Tigger, the other trouble maker use his editing powers. :lol:


maxracx wrote:
At 54 I hope to spend as much time as possible in the mountains. It's funny we have friends that go south for vacations in the winters to get away from the cold but we enjoy the WI winters. If I am going to burn any time off it will be out West in Sept and Oct.

, My wife didnt drag me kicking and screaming ,, well maybe screaming for joy to the Rockies. I like winter too
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby >>>---WW----> » 03 07, 2022 •  [Post 14]

Here's a big w(ELK)ome to the forum from Colorado. Maybe better known as the dumping ground of the elk hunters world. Good luck with your search for a place to hunt. Most of the decent units have gone limited draw. I can think of a couple of private land fee hunts, but that is about it. OTC units are going down the tubes fast in Colorado.
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Swede » 03 07, 2022 •  [Post 15]

After much contemplation, Tigger is the worst elk hunter that has ever lived, but lefty knows nothing compared to him. I rag on every word he says.
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Tigger » 03 07, 2022 •  [Post 16]

Well, shucks, thanks Swede!
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Swede » 03 07, 2022 •  [Post 17]

Please note sports fans, there is a lot of editing of other's posts going on here. Don't believe anything you read about Lefty, Tigger or myself. :D
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby six » 03 08, 2022 •  [Post 18]

Welcome aboard. Sent you a pm.
Elk are where you find em...
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby maxracx » 08 23, 2022 •  [Post 19]

Good afternoon Wapiti Talk, sorry for the delay in replying. Summer got in the way. Thank you to all who commented.

Update - I was 100% OK with hunting an OTC unit in Colorado. Then while listening to XYZ podcast they mentioned last minute opportunity hunts and mentioned landowner vouchers being for sale. I did 5 minutes of searching and found a reasonably priced archery voucher in Northcentral Colorado. The voucher is good in units 7,8,9,19,191. I know most of 9 and 191 are private and alot of 19 burned off in 2020. I have narrowed my e-scouting down to unit 7 and 8. We will be headed out Sept 15th and hunting until Sept 23rd. Unfortunately I will overlap with the muzzleloader crowd but OH WELL. I am interested in the Rawah Wilderness but I am concerned with the amount of outfitter traffic. Is there a list of the number of outfitters the NFS allows in a specific area or is it like everything and just a free for all??
If anyone has any words of wisdom for Unit 7/8 I am all ears.

Thank you in advance
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby Jhg » 08 24, 2022 •  [Post 20]

I assume you have a voucher that is not listed as "private"?
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Re: Good day Wapiti Talk!!!

Postby maxracx » 08 25, 2022 •  [Post 21]

Correct, the voucher is unit wide. In this case 5 units.
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