gmu 54 west elk wilderness

[swmoelk]

I've been planning my first elk hunt for a few weeks now. Heres what I have so far. West elk wilderness bivy hunt on foot but would love to rent a horse or two the first or last week of September on the east side of the unit. I ran into some negative info today as far as hunter over crowding and was wondering if I should rethink my plans. I plan on getting in through swampy pass out mill castle then leaving the trails behind. I have no delusions this will be easy or successful my first time out but I do want to up my odds. Is there a better plan for a first to.e encounter with the mighty wapati ? Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated. BTW there are 2 of us.

[cohunter14]

I haven't actually been over that way, but I can tell you that the west side of 54 appears to get hunted fairly well based on all the vehicles I see parked at the trailheads

Just like anyone would tell you if you were hunting any over the counter unit, do your best to get away from the traffic. It might be a little more difficult in this case with a bunch of people in there on horseback, but then again there will be far less people in a wilderness area then there will be in a place that you can drive to. If you don't end up with horses, just get off the pack trail as soon as possible. Maybe even try to enter the wilderness area at a spot where there isn't a trailhead. Just a thought...

Another idea to throw at you if you are into the 'pack in a ways and camp' idea is to try doing that in a unit that doesn't actually have a dedicated 'wilderness area'. Pick a unit and find out where there aren't any roads and pack in there. To me, it seems like wilderness areas get targeted because people think no one will be in there. But then everyone enters these areas from the same trailheads and it doesn't really get you any farther away from the traffic.

Regardless of what you decide, in the mean time I would do as much 'internet scouting' as you can.

Good luck!

[swmoelk]

Thank you. That makes good sense. I'll be on the east side and 54 is a draw unit so I was hoping that beings the archery tags were cut by more than half it might help. Also do you think 53 being otc will push more elk towards 54? On a different angle I'd much rather camp at a spike camp a mile in and just get into quantities of elk. I'm not looking for big just legal.

[Elkduds]

I sent a PM yesterday, did you get it?

[Triplebhunters]

I've been in 54 on east side. Some trailheads we've counted over 20 people, some we have seen none,and some have lots of hikers. It is a big area for tourist to watch the leaves change. I do have a log of notes I will look them up. Kathleen over at parks and wildlife office will answer a lot of questions you may have. 54 has just recently become draw only and up to now has always had leftover tags after first draw. This unit has the ability to kick your butt as well.

[swmoelk]

Thanks for your input. I could only come up with 2 access points on the east side but neither were a great looking option. It is definitely rough but beautiful country

[Litenfast]

I hunted this unit last year for my first backpack hunt, and plan on doing it again this Sept, actually just got the maps out again this morning! Send me a PM and we can chat if you want, I learned a ton last year. Went in the East side also.

[kevin_t]

I love hunting unit 54. I've hunted swampy before, and while there were a lot of people at the TH not many were more than 2 or 3 miles back. It's a long but relatively easy pack out. Heat in sept would be a worry.

[swmoelk]

I've been doing my research and now am conflicted between 54&55. 54 looks good but 55 gives me more options with more acres to hunt in varying terrain. This year is all about finding elk and learning for us a shot opportunity would be considered a blessing from above. I found a spot that has an elevation range between 10 k and 11800. With several drainages and thick steep timber with a few large meadows about 10200. The only problem is its on the western edge of the ridge but it does face north. I've read a lot about finding northeast slopes so I'm not sure if it matters that much. Also its about 3 miles from a dead end road. Does this sound "elky" to y'all because it does to me. I'm just having trouble with trusting that if I find a place there won't be 15 people there when I show up.

[kevin_t]

I am not an expert , so take it for what it is worth, however I am pretty good at finding elk, especially in new areas. I wrote a blog post a long time ago which may help http://seekoutside.com/virtual-scouting-with-colorado-hunting-atlas/ with new areas. As far as being elky , there are a lot of factors IMO. Sometimes, a place can look tremendously elky, but have a large plot of private nearby that does not have hunting, so guess which area ends up being elky ? A lot also depends on the season as well. Generally, I'll look for places that offer food and safety , and then realize how the weather might affect food. I'll look at logical potential migration routes, as well as where most people will be. Sometimes a call to the local wildlife office can help a lot, and other times they are no help. The main person in Gunnison was very helpful when I called a couple years ago. Some areas are very productive year after year, and if you take a good look you will usually find out why. For instance, swampy pass area straddles units 53 and 54. Unit 53 has easy access to the pass , the unit 54 side is a long but easy haul. There are several large ranches on the 54 side that offer great feeding, and alpine areas to hide up along the ohio peak area, plus lots of timber. Ranchers go in there before the season and get all their cattle, in the process the ruckus seems to move the elk further back. If the unit 53 side of swampy was hard to access all elk would probably just move over there until the weather turned sour and then move back down near the ranches. However, a bunch of people hang out in 53 trying to shoot them. So they sort of straddle it. That is why the area seems productive year after year. Just an example.