Pick the spot...

[bald9eagle]

2nd Rifle Elk and Deer 2016

Unit 43 - Avalanche Creek. Start about 6 miles in from Gift Creek and hunt back to Avalanche Creek campground.

Unit 54 - From Soap Creek Campground hunt north up Coal Creek, Cow Creek, and West Elk Creek.

Unit 53 - From Throughline Trail head go in about 3 miles and hunt between Haystack Mt and Mt Guero. OR... go about 3 miles in down Little Robinson Creek Trail on north side of Soap Basin. OR... hunt Cliff Creek drainage on the north side of Moseley Ridge.

Unit 25 - Turret Meadow. Starting at Sweetwater Lake going up to Turret meadow and hunting either Turret Creek or Sweetwater Creek drainages, depending on weather.

Thoughts?

[six]

Glad I don't hunt any of the above areas.

[Lefty]

It isnt so much about what and where, and how others hunt.
For me I prefer places others wont or cant hunt; sometimes that means elevation, a nasty river crossing , a place with less game.
I quite enjoyed hunting the desert, Now a hunt a place that nobody day hunts, they have a spike camp or come in on good horses.
I guess what Im saying is you need to select where you want to hunt.
I use to hunt/camp where the fellow who had shot worlds largest elk hunted.( He was in Cabela catalogs for years) He had become an old man who loved to hunt and he still did,. He parked his ATV just off the trail and sat under "his tree" He sat under that tree every day until he killed his elk.

One thing Ive discovered and is often discussed about getting back into the nasty stuff.
Select a place that gives you satisfaction, maybe that could mean seeing lots of game, maybe a physically demanding or easy, Maybe you like harsh weather, or the bright sunny skies, Or you will only hunt the deep timber, or prefer glassing more open country.

[Elkduds]

I pity the fool that reads Bald9's post above, drives to CO, shoulders his pack and tries to hunt those places My advice would be to take a skillet...

[Lost Dog]

Do you have horses?
Avalanche Creek has a good trail and used to have an outfitter in there. The West Elks...Soap Creek, Little Robinson and Cliff Creek are best hunted with horses (also outfitters there).
Will you be able to personally scout the area before hunting? All of your choices are big areas with elk and you should be committed to staying for the week because it may take some time to find the elk. Horses would make it easier to pack out whatever you get also.

[bald9eagle]

I pity the fool that reads Bald9's post above, drives to CO, shoulders his pack and tries to hunt those places My advice would be to take a skillet...

Why's that? I'm just naming places that I have narrowed down to try. I don't know if there are even elk there or not. I'm just hoping to get some thoughts on what to look for.

[bald9eagle]

Glad I don't hunt any of the above areas.

Are those bad spots? I'm not naming spots that hold elk. I honestly don't know. Those are just the places that I have found that I want to try. It's not like I came on here and gave out exact spots of where elk are. Now if I had come on and said "man there are elk all over Smitty Creek" that would have been different.

[bald9eagle]

Do you have horses?
Avalanche Creek has a good trail and used to have an outfitter in there. The West Elks...Soap Creek, Little Robinson and Cliff Creek are best hunted with horses (also outfitters there).
Will you be able to personally scout the area before hunting? All of your choices are big areas with elk and you should be committed to staying for the week because it may take some time to find the elk. Horses would make it easier to pack out whatever you get also.

This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for. I know that I can find elk pretty much anywhere I go if I'm willing to put in time. I'm more interested in what those areas mean in terms of crowds, terrain, weather, etc.

[Lefty]

. I'm more interested in what those areas mean in terms of crowds, terrain, weather, etc.

Terrain you should be able to use a topo on google and google earth
The closer to big cities and driveable full sized vehicles? and ATV's access the more likely to be crowded.
As far as weather there is often transmitting weather stations and check the local weather history.

[saddlesore]

I hunted Unit 25 for about25 years. Specifically Turret Meadows and Dry Sweetwater. Since CPW issued all those OTC cow tags several years ago, it is hard to take and elk out of there. It is really crowded and too many outfitter permits, coupled with DYIers you can't find a drainage without a camp in it.

Years ago it was great, but after being written up in outdoor magazines, everyone goes there .I took 8 bulls straight in the bowl that Turret Meadows is in, but that was back in the late 80's. I could still go in there and take an elk, but they are hard to come by . What elk that are left have drifted over towards White River Drainage.

Turret Meadows






Ditto for Soap Basin. Very crowded. It use to be good. ON the East side of Unit 54, after the 1st shot, in the 1st rifle season, most elk drift down to the valley floor on all those hobby ranches there. No hunting there, and the elk won't come off. Most of that country is horse or mule country that you need to get around.

[Elkduds]

I pity the fool that reads Bald9's post above, drives to CO, shoulders his pack and tries to hunt those places My advice would be to take a skillet...

Why's that? I'm just naming places that I have narrowed down to try. I don't know if there are even elk there or not. I'm just hoping to get some thoughts on what to look for.

Allow me to clarify. I shared PMs w you about a few of these. Sounded like you knew what you are getting into, rugged wilderness hunts accessible by several miles of trail. My reply intended to suggest that someone who used your OP as a substitute for their own due diligence in researching areas, would be on a fool's errand. When I glassed into steep canyons, gnarled black timber and other hard country, my dad would say, "better take the skillet if you are heading in there." This implied that whatever I killed there, I'd have to eat there.

The places on your list I named in PMs offer great hunting, I expect the other places do as well. No disrespect intended. I hope you get to hunt them all.

[bald9eagle]

I pity the fool that reads Bald9's post above, drives to CO, shoulders his pack and tries to hunt those places My advice would be to take a skillet...

Why's that? I'm just naming places that I have narrowed down to try. I don't know if there are even elk there or not. I'm just hoping to get some thoughts on what to look for.

Allow me to clarify. I shared PMs w you about a few of these. Sounded like you knew what you are getting into, rugged wilderness hunts accessible by several miles of trail. My reply intended to suggest that someone who used your OP as a substitute for their own due diligence in researching areas, would be on a fool's errand. When I glassed into steep canyons, gnarled black timber and other hard country, my dad would say, "better take the skillet if you are heading in there." This implied that whatever I killed there, I'd have to eat there.

The places on your list I named in PMs offer great hunting, I expect the other places do as well. No disrespect intended. I hope you get to hunt them all.

Gotcha. What I'm trying to do is learn what I need to look for when picking a spot. Those 4 looked like good spots but they all had some things in common. Decent accessibility, travel corridors, winter and summer ranges fairly close. I imagine that they would be packed 2nd rifle.

What I'm gathering is that you need to get way back in and walk until you find elk. Where you start doesn't mean so much.

[Lost Dog]

We put a 3 mile and/or 3000 foot elevation limit on ourselves. If we go beyond that we had better have a skillet and a loaf of bread like Elk duds said.
We hunt from our trucks on public land and shoot mostly rag horn 4 and 5 points with an occasional 6 point.
Not always a matter of walking your legs off. Mostly just need to find an area that gets overlooked by others.

[saddlesore]

One of the problems with Colorado is there are no vast tracks of wilderness areas such that WY and MT have. You go far enough back in and you start meeting people coming in from the other side. If you want that big country, you need to go to states north of CO.

Everyone knows about those tried and true methods that everyone follows. However, you have to think outside the box. All those elk that the CPW says Colorado has don't necessarily mean there are more elk in those areas that have always held elk. It means that elk are re-establishing themselves in areas that they haven't been for years. Why? Because more and more hunters push them there, loss of habitat, or over herd carrying capacity.

I'm 72 years old an I kill an elk every year, both bulls and cows and I sure don't beat myself to death covering 10-15 miles every day. This past year I killed my 49th elk. I think when I reach 50,I'll hang it up

You have to learn to hunt smart, not necessarily far. You need to find those little hidey holes that elk go into that other hunters won't. I know of at least four, but I don't hunt them anymore as age has caught up with me.

Here are some of those elk I mentioned down on the valley floor near Gunnison . These were near a herd of about 500 during 2nd rifle season. Those are rancher's cows behind them. Never let someone tell you elk won't mix with cows .

[Indian Summer]

Saddlesore... man you are a wealth of information. I hope that it's awhile before you kill number 50 so you keep coming back here.

It's interesting to hear what you have to say. I have never hunted Colorado. I don't know much about any place specific just general knowledge from listening to thousands of hunters over the years. The things you say above are exactly what I picture. I've never hunted places where you couldn't put on some miles and just keep getting further from other people. I can't imagine that. It just wouldn't be the same. I love knowing that everyone else is behind me. That is if I want to hunt like that and sometimes I do venture off into no man's land.

"You have to learn to hunt smart, not necessarily far. You need to find those little hidey holes that elk go into that other hunters won't."

That's more how I hunt. God willing we will all be 72 at some point so if we want to still be hunting elk we will need to do it without covering 10 or more miles a day. As guys like us have proven that is very possible. I killed 13 elk straight in the Bitterroot parked right next to other people and hunting not far from them at all. You have to know your area to do that and the only way to learn it is by hunting it.

If you live in the state you hunt then fine. You can spend time there learning the place and patterning other hunters. If not you should give serious consideration to where you plan to hunt so that your efforts pay off now and in the future. It doesn't sound like the places you're talking about would be somewhere I'd start investing my time.

[blackwolf]

I bowhunted that Avalanche Creek country 30 years ago when I could climb like a Billy Goat.
Beautiful country with lots of elk and big bulls years ago. No clue what it is like now. Do know that
outfitters are in there, but lots of room, especially if you are young and can easily climb. I hunted it
early bow up in the clouds. I would think 2nd rifle, a guy with good boot leather could find
some interesting spots . Tons of country along Avalanche creek, all headed up. Good luck on whatever you try.

[six]

Glad I don't hunt any of the above areas.

Are those bad spots? I'm not naming spots that hold elk. I honestly don't know. Those are just the places that I have found that I want to try. It's not like I came on here and gave out exact spots of where elk are. Now if I had come on and said "man there are elk all over Smitty Creek" that would have been different.

Honestly I cant tell you if they are bad spots or not. I can tell you that there may be an extra truck or two at some of those trailheads because of your post.

I have had guys message me within in weeks of their season asking about the unit I hunt. Questions they should have known long before even buying a tag. Guys I don't know and that are new on this site.

Personally I really enjoy the research that goes into a hunt. Looks like you do too. Some guys would rather take the easy way out.

Hope I didn't offend you.

[bald9eagle]

No offense taken. I guess I took it for granted that folks would read my post and not understand that I am really clueless about finding an area. I guess what I have learned from this is that elk will be where they be, BOG is the best method for finding them, horses aren't a must but would make a very good addition and bring a good skillet. lol