A few rookie questions

[EastTNHunter]

Hello all. As you can see, I am a newbie from the east and have a few elk hunting questions. First of all, I am planning a DIY or semi-guided OTC first rifle hunt with my brother and dad for 2019. I was planning for SW Colorado since they offer OTC tags, but am open to other suggestions. I am considering camping near a remote road as a base camp, but backpacking in for a few days at a time. My on the ground scouting will be limited to a couple of days before the hunt. My brother and dad will have been on 2 guided elk hunts by that time, but I will be a Western hunt virgin. I am an experienced deer hunter, but not a trophy hunter, so any legal bull (will also consider cow tags) will be a trophy to me. I am more interested in the experience, and know that the odds of bagging an elk on my first hunt are slim.

How should I select the area to hunt in? What general and specific items should I look for?

What should I pack in? Does someone have a checklist that they can share?

Do you recommend field dressing an elk before quartering it for pack out? My brother shot a nice bull a couple years back and the guide had him field dress it before quartering, which seemed like extra work to me.

I am all ears, so any answers to these questions and other suggestions are much appreciated.

Thank you,
Ryan

[WapitiTalk1]

Welcome to the campfire Ryan, glad to have you on board. Get your pencil sharpened and get ready for some feedback

[Lost Dog]

Welcome Ryan. I live in SW Colorado, lots of elk country here but also lots of hunting pressure. Research and ask lots of questions.

To answer your question about field dressing and quartering. We always field dress immediately upon kill to start the cooling process. Quartering is done to make the portions more manageable.

See you on the mountain.

[Wyoklaelk8]

We skip the field dressing and get straight to de-boning the meat and getting it cool asap. Hauling bones can be more work

[Indian Summer]

2019 hmm... you need to start buying points in Wyoming right now. It's easy. They sell them online between July 1 and October 30th for $50. By having a couple you can guarantee their cheaper elk license. Even with no points you can get a license in both Wyoming and Montana.

And by the way... your odds don't have to be slim. There are never any guarantees in elk hunting and bulls are harder to find than cows but I sure know some places where a couple hunters with either sex elk tags couldn't possibly go home without some elk meat. When the time comes look me up and maybe you'll be interested in a hunt plan to help put your group on the fast track to killing bulls. See the DIY Hunts page on my website for more info.

The gutless methods is the way to go. But I think it is a good idea to gut your first elk. Then after that quarter it as if he guts were still in. That way the elk will be lighter and easier to work on and you won't have to worry about poking anything that you shouldn't. Next time go gutless. It'll take a few times to get good at it but it's definitely quicker and way cleaner.

Good luck TN! Glad to see you back.
Joe
Headin' West Hunt Consulting
http://www.headinwest.net

[cohunter]

If you're set on Colorado, I still think you might want to consider applying for preference points (although I know there is a fee to apply for preference points - not sure how much it is. With three points (if you applied for points 2016-2018 and drew a tag for 2019) you might be able to draw a more coveted tag... Limited tags are no guarantee of success, but perhaps tipping the odds more in your favor. Someone more familiar with southwest CO might be able to tell you which units/seasons require 3 points for a non-resident. The CO application deadline is that first week of April.

[Swede]

Welcome to the forum Ryan. I agree with Cohunter about improving your hunt quality. Personally I would have a good base camp and hunt daily out of that. You can get a pretty decent tag in Oregon after buying three preference points. You have until May to apply for your first point here. Regardless of where you plan to hunt, look at the State big game statistics unit by unit, and narrow things down some. You can also get preference points for several States, and keep on hunting good units year after year.
As far as what you want in a pack, consider what you need. Have enough to stay warm and dry including a fire starter. Food is essential. Survival and navigation tools are imperative. You will need a pack and butchering tools if you get anything. I sure like my little InReach satellite transmitter just in case. If you are staying overnight you obviously need a water filter, stove, pot to heat your food, sleeping bag and tent.

[njdoxie]

there are tons of packing list on this forum and others, just google it

[CurlyTail]

Welcome Ryan!

You are going to have a blast. Colorado high country is spectacular and exhilarating.

First of all, I think the Colorado OTC tags are for 2nd and 3rd rifle season. First rifle is usually under the draw. Rifle season is greatly affected by weather, as exact location of the elk in a particular unit, depends on if there is snow, and how much snow is present. The Elk migrate from high alpine country in the summer to lower ranges as the frost freezes the grasses, and as snow covers the feed. It can sometimes be challenging to find what elevation the Elk are hanging out. They are usually as high as possible on the mountain range, except in some areas the Elk have learned to high tail to private land as soon as hunting season opens.

The later the season, the more likely you will encounter cold temps. and snow yourself. Getting snowed-in is always a possibility. You must be prepared for any and every type of weather. The OTC rifle seasons are short and popular. Expect company. You are looking for tough to get to areas, without a bunch of competition. Sometimes that means going deep in from the trailhead, sometimes you just need to overcome some impediment like a river crossing, a steep ridge, or a drainage without an established trail system. The problem with going deep is that you often encounter other guys with the same idea, and horse camps. Sometimes the remote areas are overcrowded. Your best bet is to establish a base camp from which you can drive to many different areas until you find elk and few other hunters.

It is hard to know what kind of hunting pressure an area gets without being there at that time. Therefore you have to have backup plans.

Go to the Colorado Hunt Atlas, for a map of Colorado that shows GMU boundaries, Elk summer and winter ranges, National Forest road use maps, and private land boundaries.

It is difficult to do a backpack style hunt during the later rifle hunts since the warmer clothing, hunting gear, and shelter requirements are too heavy. Thus the popularity of horses.

Next, did you really mean 2019, or is that a typo, and your mean 2016?

I would tell you that you should give serous consideration to hunting early archery season, or muzzleloader season ( mid september). Longer season. Less hunters. Better weather. More rutting activity. Calling is more helpful. All of these equal more fun to me.

I recommend the gutless method for field dressing your kill. No need to gut it before quartering. You will enter the abdomen to get the tenderloins. Always carry a "kill kit" with essentials needed on every single outing.

Unit 76 is the premiere unit in SW Colorado. It is managed more for quality over quantity. You will not be able to get a tag for 76 but consider hunting an adjacent unit near the border with 76. There are no "bad" units in Southern Colorado. They all have elk, they all have lots of pressure, you just need to pick a unit and go find a couple hidey holes.

In a DIY situation, you are fortunate indeed if you get it figured out your first year. Southern Colorado is stunningly beautiful, and that along with good company, makes even an Elkless trip still worth doing. If you are not seeing Elk, or fresh sign, you need to move to another area.

[bald9eagle]

Another virgin...

Welcome. I am just as green as you are. My first hunt will be late Sept. in SW Colorado. I've considered Wyoming for my second hunt. My buddy has mentioned going after pronghorn in 2017 so I don't know if I will get to go after an elk then or not. I am planning on either putting in for New Mexico starting in 2017 or buying Wyoming points this year. It will depend on how things go this year. If we have a good trip and find a good spot we might just return to CO in 2017. When it is all said and done I think I will be hooked HARD. I know that after this year there will be lots of guys wanting to go with me the next year. I think they are reluctant now since none of us have ever been hunting out West.

We are planning on field dressing mainly because we haven't had any experience quartering an elk and we want to make sure it cools quicker.

I have found that the internet is full of packing checklists. If you look you will see that I have asked 100's of questions. I am an obsessive planner. Can't help myself.

[Indian Summer]

By the Wyo point Baldy. You can buy them until the end of October. I don't know what your hunt dates are but I guess you could wait until you get back. But you will not regret having them when it comes time to use them and they will save you money.

EastTN.... here's a link to a thread with a pretty darn good gear list.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6918

[bald9eagle]

By the Wyo point Baldy. You can buy them until the end of October. I don't know what your hunt dates are but I guess you could wait until you get back. But you will not regret having them when it comes time to use them and they will save you money.

EastTN.... here's a link to a thread with a pretty darn good gear list.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6918

Without giving too much away Joe give me 5 units.

[EastTNHunter]

I appreciate all of the feedback, although I have only been able to skim it so far. I have been traveling and training the past few days, so it will be tomorrow at best before I can really study it.

Yes, 2019 is correct. This should give me sufficient time for planning, saving, and purchasing equipment

[bald9eagle]

It's not as bad as you think. I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but I have managed to get most of the necessities for Sept 2016. If possible you need to ramp that time table up to at least 2017. Buy one thing a month. If you work OT any you can pull one shift for a tent, couple shifts will get boots or tags.

[EastTNHunter]

It is a bit more than that. First of , I don't make OT, it's just free time to the company. Secondly, I have a wife and 3 kids, and we plan to take a family vacation to the beach (shudder) next fall, necessitating the delay. The plans and budget only allow for a vacation every other year, thus 2019. My family will stay in a hotel/resort ( not the expensive, swanky kind) in CO or close while I am hunting.

[CurlyTail]

My family comes and visits us at Elk Camp all the time. Our tradition is that mom makes some rhubarb crisp (my favorite dessert), and they drive down to elk camp and visit if we have a rain day or a rest day planned. Every year, we get our Elk soon after we eat moms Rhubarb Crisp. Its kind of turned in to a supestitious thing.

Mom was concerned last year because she changed things up and made Blueberry Crisp (her favorite). Sure enough, no elk - until the last hour of the last day. She was the first person I called once we got out of the back country. I told her that the Blueberry crisp was just a potent (for good luck) as the Rhubarb - just slow acting. She seemed quite pleased.

[EastTNHunter]

I have considered buying points, but from what I understand you have to front the entire drawing and license cost, then you don't get that back for months. Do I have this wrong?

Also, should I expect to have to rent mules or horses to get in far enough to establish a base camp, or are there areas to camp close to roads that do not receive significant hunting pressure?I would prefer to have the "amenities " of a full camp, but have been advised to go deep by some acquaintances that have hunted elk in CO before.

I really appreciate the link to the packing lists. This is very helpful.

Also, because of work FY schedules and the like, early-mid October will be best for my hunting schedule. I would love to ML hunt CO, but I would have to purchase another ML (I shoot a scoped Savage smokeless ML), and the schedule would not work well. Maybe in the future I will be able to consider this.

Indian Summer, I sent you a PM.

[saddlesore]

It isn't always necessary to buy points,although since you are 2-3 years out that could help.
With about 50 years elk hunting under my belt, here is what I would do.

First start off with a cow tag. In Colorado ,generally there are 5 times as many cows as bulls.Trophy areas might have bigger bull to cow ratios , but for units that require zero ,1-3 points that is about the average.

For the first few elk, gut them. If you are by yourself ,it takes about 1/3 of the weight away and then you can move the carcass by yourself. Mature cows, and young bulls weigh about 400 pounds, maybe a bit more. Mature bulls may go 600 pounds sometimes more.. After gutting, if it isn't too unreasonable terrain, you can move the carcass away from the blood and guts.Nasty blow down,steep, what ever,you do the best you can.

All across northern Colorado,you can rent horses from Sombrero Ranches for about $600 for the season.There is are not many horse rental, places in southern CO. That might seem high,but it takes about $1200 a year just to feed one.Add vet bills, shoeing,tack, trailer and all the rest and it gets high. Some outfitters will pack out your elk, some won't. The going rate at present is $400. Whatever you do, figure out how to get your elk out even before you apply or buy a tag.

Seasons ( Colorado Only)

First rifle season is 5 days as is the 4th, they are draw only, cows and bulls,but many areas have left over tags that you can buy after the draw/. Most of those left over tags are cow tags.

2nd and 3rd season are 9 days. These are Over The Counter ( OTC) and draw. Ditto with the left over tags

Muzzle loader season is 9 days, draw only and there are few left over tags.
Archery season is almost a month long and it is both draw and OTC.

Best advice, go to 24hourcampfire.com forum and look up a guy that goes by KC. PM him and ask him for his write up about elk hunting.Great,accurate information.There is more information there than you can get on 10 pages of . PM me and I will give you his email address