Temperature in CO

[2peterhunter]

Hunting first rifle season in co oct 10-14 at 11-12,000 feet. Since I have only archery hunted early what should I be expecting for temps?

[Indian Summer]

Expect the possibility for the $h1t to hit the fan. Hope for the best but plan for the worst. I have a feeling you already knew that.

Have a plan B at a lower elevation.

[2peterhunter]

Yep I have already processed that. Is there a temp range that could be considered "normal"?

[Fridaythe13th]

We hunting 2nd season in southern CO. I think 6 was the lowest temp we seen and in the low 70 for high. We never had a bunch of snow. The 1st year we could see the snow line drop on the mountain almost every day till the last day we woke up to 6-8 inches of snow. We camped around 9,100 feet. It's the mountain, plan for the worst you can all way take clothes off.

[CurlyTail]

Normal - Highs in 40's and 50's, Lows 15-35. A good snow storm is always possible. Keep in mind that if you are above timberline, it will be much colder and windier.

[erle1139]

Last year first rifle we camped around 9800 ft. Highs were in the 50s and lows in the 30s the first few days, then a front came in and we got about 7-8" snow with highs in the 20s-30s and lows in the teens. After a couple of days it warmed back up again. If you're going to be out there 5-7+ days, I would plan on expecting a weather change sometime in that span. I'm not sure how adding another 2,000 ft in elevation to where we were would have affected the temp, but I doubt it would be warmer!

[Elkduds]

Been here over 50 years. 4 out of 5 years you will not see significant snow during 1st rifle. The last 2 years there was snow in many places for 1st season, then none for 2nd, 3rd. On north and east facing slopes above 11k, any snow that falls in Aug, Sept may still be there in Oct. Nights will average in the 20s, but don't be fooled by averages. It is + or -10 degrees off average as often as it is average temp. In the last 10 years, it has RAINED enough to make roads impassable in early Oct 2 years in places I hunt, w lightning included. Overall the recent trend in CO weather has been warm lasting later in the fall, and when storms come in Oct they can be more severe. CO is a big state. It can snow 2 feet on Flattops in north central, and be 60 degrees @ timberline in the San Juans down south on the same weekend. For the scenario you named, expect highs in the 50s, lows in the 20s, and wind. Be prepared for highs in the 60s, lows around 0, rain, snow and hurricane-force wind.

[under H2O hunter]

I hunt the same elevations during 1st rifle the last 5 years or so. I have seen it be 80 degrees one day and snowing the next... I have seen it dump 12 inches of snow over night. I have had to cut my way out or down to lower elevations with a chainsaw because trees got to much snow and fell across the trail. Hunting 1st rifle season is challenging because of these dramatic weather changes. Elk will be one place one day and completely gone out of the area the next because of them as well. I personally use a weather app on my phone to keep a close eye on it. If I know I am gonna get some major weather I move lower in elevation and try to avoid the major problems that can result from them. Here are some things to consider when hunting 1st Rifle season. For the most part you are gonna need to layer your clothing.. It's freezing in the mornings and warms up as the day progresses. Bring snow chains even if you don't think you'll use em. Always expect the worse and be happy with everything else. Snow and rain in 1st rifle always makes for a muddy mess. Plan accordingly.

Here is the exact same spot only 14 hours difference between the two photos... The herd of elk was found at 4pm day before opening day.. Came back in the morning at 630am and this is what we could see. The elk were there but couldn't see more then 50 yards.

[Charina]

Have you tried looking for a weather station near where you plan to hunt, and viewing historical data? Weatherunderground can provide several years of data for thousands of weather stations.

Fall in the mts is highly variable. Sunny and warm one day, and then a blast of snow the next is highly possible.

[Ponyboy_jonas]

It gets pretty cold during the middle of the night. a 25 or 30 below sleeping bag would be the way to go. be really prepared for the snow!!!

[2peterhunter]

Also the question gets posed, do the elk stay if there is some snow?

[Bow4me]

I think it was 4 years ago my son and I drew a first rifle hunt for the weminuche. During the ML it snowed 42 inches. It was a week later for the first rifle and it was 70 degrees. We got severely sunburned and all the elk had dropped to lower elevation. LESSON 187: BE READY FOR ANYTHING

[Ponyboy_jonas]

The elk usually start moving down to lower elevations once there is much snow higher up. Probably around 2ft. I hunt around 9500-10200 ft and I have always seen elk at anytime.

[one_elk]

Also the question gets posed, do the elk stay if there is some snow?

My experience has been that the Cows and calf's will move with a moderate amount of snow (say between 1 and 2 feet) but I have seen bulls in the high country with 3' of snow. There movement also depends on temperature when the temp drops be 15 for a few days they seem to be on the move, but that rarely happens during that first rifle season. In general it has been noticeably warmer over the past 5 to 10 years in the first rifle season but as said above still a great chance for snow....best of luck

[SoCo Mark]

I've hunted first rifle since 2007, in the same spot in central Colorado. Each and every year it has been the same. Out of the 5 day hunt I've had, without fail, 1-2 days of combination of rain-sleet-snow. IF the snow stacks up, it is gone in a day or 2. I think the most I've seen is 8-10 inches at 10,500'. Once the storm started the night before season and went through Saturday night. Most of the time it seems to hit Sunday through Tuesday- just the way it's happened. At 10500' visibility is poor to non-existent as I hunt the western side of a pretty significant range of mountains.

[Vids]

My experience is similar to a lot of these posts. Hunted the same spot for 5-10 years, always seemed to have one big snow storm drop a foot or so at some point during the season. The rest of the days were H 50 L 30 on average. I've also seen 80 degrees one day and a blizzard the next.

One thing to note - We always had great luck the day after the storm ended. Seems like they hole up during the storm and then get restless the next day.

[2peterhunter]

I've hunted first rifle since 2007, in the same spot in central Colorado. Each and every year it has been the same. Out of the 5 day hunt I've had, without fail, 1-2 days of combination of rain-sleet-snow. IF the snow stacks up, it is gone in a day or 2. I think the most I've seen is 8-10 inches at 10,500'. Once the storm started the night before season and went through Saturday night. Most of the time it seems to hit Sunday through Tuesday- just the way it's happened. At 10500' visibility is poor to non-existent as I hunt the western side of a pretty significant range of mountains.

Did the elk start moving then?

[Passin Thru]

If you haven't lived in the Mountains expect it to snow. It snows every month of the year in Colorado. I have seen wet snow in August at 11000 and in June of 2010 Pikes Peak had a snowstorm that covered the top above 10K an it was a cold rain around Woodland Park. I tried to fish and about froze my Bohunkus! During the 70s it snowed so hard in early Elk season, people left their campers in the woods around Gunnison and some had to be flown out by helicopter. The snow was deep enough they carried hay in to feed Elk that couldn't get to lower ground.

[SoCo Mark]

2peterhunter- I'm not like a lot of hunters on this site. I usually hunt one specific area that I like to call a travel route. It is about 10500' in elevation and if I sit there for 5 days straight I usually have an opportunity to get my elk. Do they move more after a storm you ask? Honestly I don't know. It really seems if I have decent weather and visibility, I usually see elk. Being at that elevation, and on the west side of the mountain range, when storms blow in visibility can be less than 50 yards. Because of that, I usually do not hunt in bad weather. I just don't see the point when visibility is almost zero. When I do have visibility I usually see elk. This year is the outlier as we had cruddy weather on opening morning and between fog banks that rolled in I spotted elk, but did not get a shot. (The whole story of this year is a rather lengthy, albiet humorous one, maybe I'll share it another time.) After opening day, Sunday turned out to be a snowy day and I did not hunt. The final 3 days were decent weather but ended up seeing nothing on those days. Usually, if I get more than a day or two of decent weather, I get my elk. I will say that elk sightings have tailed off dramatically the last couple of years. I think it has something to do with a ranch in the valley floor where one can routinely see 200 to 700 elk at anytime of the year, virtually any time of the day. I don't know if this is why my sightings have went down, but it is my theory. That said, I still had a chance this year, though 3 elk is all I saw all season.
I know many here hunt hard all day long, all season long, but to be perfectly honest, that is just not me. And I still manage to get my elk most years. Hunting alone I've come to start staying in a motel in a nearby town during my rifle hunt. Sure, it's extra time to drive to and fro, and because I have about at an hour and a quarter walk to make before first light it makes for an early morning, but I really don't mind. It's nice to get away and really relax and recharge during rifle season and staying in a motel in town fits the bill, at least for me.

[2peterhunter]

2peterhunter- I'm not like a lot of hunters on this site. I usually hunt one specific area that I like to call a travel route. It is about 10500' in elevation and if I sit there for 5 days straight I usually have an opportunity to get my elk. Do they move more after a storm you ask? Honestly I don't know. It really seems if I have decent weather and visibility, I usually see elk. Being at that elevation, and on the west side of the mountain range, when storms blow in visibility can be less than 50 yards. Because of that, I usually do not hunt in bad weather. I just don't see the point when visibility is almost zero. When I do have visibility I usually see elk. This year is the outlier as we had cruddy weather on opening morning and between fog banks that rolled in I spotted elk, but did not get a shot. (The whole story of this year is a rather lengthy, albiet humorous one, maybe I'll share it another time.) After opening day, Sunday turned out to be a snowy day and I did not hunt. The final 3 days were decent weather but ended up seeing nothing on those days. Usually, if I get more than a day or two of decent weather, I get my elk. I will say that elk sightings have tailed off dramatically the last couple of years. I think it has something to do with a ranch in the valley floor where one can routinely see 200 to 700 elk at anytime of the year, virtually any time of the day. I don't know if this is why my sightings have went down, but it is my theory. That said, I still had a chance this year, though 3 elk is all I saw all season.
I know many here hunt hard all day long, all season long, but to be perfectly honest, that is just not me. And I still manage to get my elk most years. Hunting alone I've come to start staying in a motel in a nearby town during my rifle hunt. Sure, it's extra time to drive to and fro, and because I have about at an hour and a quarter walk to make before first light it makes for an early morning, but I really don't mind. It's nice to get away and really relax and recharge during rifle season and staying in a motel in town fits the bill, at least for me.

I would love to do this, I am very patient and sit all day deer hunting, so right up my alley. What are you looking for to find a place to sit?

[SoCo Mark]

Well, this is a spot that I always saw elk crossing every time I went to this area. It is a flat bench, fairly open and I set up right before the dark timber that extends below. Above this spot and down the range are open parks with timber and brush interspersed throughout. At first I saw them when I was at the base of the range, but the elk would cross maybe 1000 yards up hill from me. They were always side hilling the range, going over the ridges that go up and down the range. So, I started looking and I came up with a really nice ambush spot. Where ever the elk side hill the range, they always seem to find themselves at this flat spot. From this flat they dump directly down into the dark timber for the day (I presume.) Sometimes they come in below me but from my spot I can see them there as well. Basically when they come over the ridge from me they are already within 400 yards, if not much closer. I just wait until they get closer as they usually have no idea I'm there. During normal wind currents, my scent gets taken well away from where they come from.
What you can look for, from my limited experience, are saddles- which are low points on a ridge that are natural crossings from one side to another. Or, you could look for entrance points into the dark timber. As they come across the range and down, they seem to always go into the timber at first chance- at least at this spot.
Now, as I said, this is about an hour and a quarter of pretty good walking to get there, and it is paramount that I be there before shooting light. I've seen elk as soon as I could see on a number of occasions. But I've also caught late runners at mid morning...

[Charina]

2peterhunter:

See post #10 at Alone and in trouble. I have this nifty battery/crank powered radio I keep at camp that picks up the weather band, and tune into it each day. I do so in order to get data on the prevailing wind patterns (to know how to approach areas), and to be forewarned about those sudden fall storms that can leave you stranded in the Mts. You can either get one of those, or tell the wife to up the amount of life insurance coverage, like my wife does each year before I head off to the wilderness by myself.

If CO weather operates anything like UT, those fall storms are generated by low pressures coming out of the PNW, or dropping out of Canada. As they approach, the warmer south winds pick up for a day or two, and get pretty steady and strong for a bit. You can tell a storm front is coming, and that you need to batten down the hatches (or head to lower elevations) by the presence of these strong, consistent, warm southerly winds. They are not diurnal winds. They blow steadily, and pick up intensity over a 24 to 36 hour period until suddenly, BAM! the front hits and the snow starts flying. Happened here in SLC just three days ago. Was 75 on midday Tuesday, blowing hard out of the south, and 45 and snowing just two hours later as I drove home. I woke up to almost a foot of snow on my truck Wednesday AM.