Need some GMU help

[elkwizard]

Doing an OTC colorado archery hunt next fall. Hiking way in and camping, just wondering what GMUs to order maps of and start looking at. We dont even know where to start. We're mostly looking for anything with an opportunity to get far away from anyone else while still having a chance at an elk. So which GMUs have very little access? Anything to point us in the right direction would be a huge help

[itsnlkthing]

http://ndis.nrel.colostate.edu/huntingatlas/ is link to an online interactive map of the state / GMU's it is a great place to start looking. The more remote areas will be wilderness areas. These areas do not allow any vehicle traffic so all access is by foot or horses. The division of wildlife has a ton of information on the site about success rates, # of hunters, preference points needed to draw different areas, etc.

[otcWill]

If you're looking to "get away", then avoid all trailheads, trails, marked parking areas, signed Blm/NF. Do something that nobody in their right mind would do i.e.: climb over something ridiculous. Take a look at the map and try to avoid picking the spots that most guys do. Try to imagine where your average guy would head and don't go there. Colorado really doesn't have HUGE pieces of roadless wilderness like Wyo, MT, ID, OR. YOu have to be smart to avoid crowds. You can't just out-hike the pressure you gotta out-think the rest. Look at private ranches with smaller pieces of public adjacent to them. Forget the idea that hiking "way in" and think more along the lines of how to sneak away from the crowds. If you were an elk, how would you sneak back to private land from public while avoiding all the hunters? If you simply look at the largest elk numbers in the state, find some large piece of public around there, and go hunting you will end up with the other 100,000 NR in that same area.

[cnelk]

For those interested in this thread:

Read otcwill's post - then read it again.
Its money

[elkwizard]

Good info, thanks a lot. So is there a lot of guys that backpack hunt pretty far back in? I know the most pressure is going to be a mile or two off of the trailheads, just wondering how often you will run into other guys if you hike 8-10 miles? And i think we're hunting durango-pagosa springs area, somewhere down around there if that helps at all