map elk coverage

[currie]

i look at game planner maps and the colorado state hunt maps i look at same area and there elk ranges are totally different whos is more accurate how do they know this and how often is it updated

[cohunter]

I'm a school teacher, so I haven't had time lately for poking around game planner's maps... just a few weeks left!! I do know the Colorado Hunt maps in my area haven't really been updated for at least 10 years. Most of the areas on the maps are based on calving and winter ranges (not necessarily where elk are in the season) as this is where elk return year after year at the same time. It's important for them to know these areas because that's when elk are easiest to study and most predictable. Outside of those seasons, elk are more widely dispersed, and their weekly range can be huge. I've never actually killed an elk in an area shown on those maps. In most of CO, if you see good habitat, you'll find elk there at some point during the year! Unless you're hunting a late season or shed hunting, I wouldn't be paying too much attention to the areas indicated for elk ranges. ***EDIT I just looked at both maps again, the game planner map summer and winter range look pretty good - No doubt the summer and winter concentrations are accurate too, but in my experience, next to useless for the hunter in all but the late season or looking for sheds in the spring.

[currie]

thanks cohunter

[Osprey]

I think its sort of unit dependant. Pressure once season starts can have a huge influence on where Elk can be found or where they get pushed. One of the units I hunt in CO I do the late Rifle hunt for Bulls however the Elk both Cows and Bulls pretty much are not even close to the winter range shown on the CDOW map and sometimes according to a local I talked to this past season in the unit very few use it even after season. However another unit I hunt the Elk are pretty much in or near the winter area by 4th season however due to pressure they get pushed down out of the summer range a lot lower than most think even by first rifle just due to pressure. Not every unit is layed out the same so you have to get an idea of where they feel the most pressure and how the animals react to that pressure. One unit they may hold high another they may drop low or even retreat to private land at the first shots. One thing I've found true of locals in CO is that if you stop to chat about hunting with others in your unit especially a day or two before season tell a few stories etc most will give you some pretty good intel on the unit. I've learned a lot of good info about Elk habits in the area. They may not say hey hunt here or I saw 20 elk here this morning but it may give you some idea of how Elk are using the general area. This past season while hunting 3rd season I had one guy tell me about general habits and areas Elk sometimes frequent and areas he actually saw Elk on his archery hunt in that unit. After my hunt when I was packing out a bull I returned the favor by telling him where his buddy could easily fill his cow tag close to a road to boot.

[CurlyTail]

I have found the elk ranges in the colorado hunt atlas to be fairly accurate and helpful for my area. Don't know about game planner, will have to check it out.

[Game Planner Maps]

When I published the data for the Colorado elk range I believe I used data from RMEF and CPW. If I recall there were some variations in the Summer, Winter, and respective concentration areas so I Frankensteined what you see on the map viewer. That was in 2014, perhaps Colorado has updated their range data since then. I'll look into it and see if I can get my hands on the data Colorado currently has published.

[cohunter]

After poking around a little more, i think I need to give a little more credit to the map-makers You'll notice the elk range on both sets of maps is huge and not very specific. That's because elk will be in elk habitat. Good habitat = much of western Colorado. The winter and summer concentrations are just that. AND I think they're fairly accurately represented for the areas I'm familiar with. Spring and Fall elk movements are incredibly weather and (as someone else alluded to here) pressure dependent. As to variations in maps: I bet they're both accurate - and missing the smaller (but still dense) pockets of elk. Thanks for piquing my curiosity! After spending a few minutes on the game planner maps, I can see I'll burn a fair bit of time there this summer! Pretty slick set-up.

[StartMyHunt]

In most of CO, if you see good habitat, you'll find elk there at some point during the year! Unless you're hunting a late season or shed hunting, I wouldn't be paying too much attention to the areas indicated for elk ranges.

COHUNTER, I could not agree more. Having worked directly with many of the western G&F departments over the last 20 years developing environmental assessments and impact analysis, I have learned that the ranges they depict are not really meant to show hunters where they should be hunting. They can show a general area where elk might be located during a certain time of the year, but some of these ranges can be 5-10 miles across. They are more of a tool that the agencies use to try to determine their game management plans for a data analysis unit.

In defense of Game Planner Maps, the ranges depicted are accurately portrayed as far as what the CPW has available, but are not very helpful other than showing a person the general area to hunt (which can be huge) at a particular time of the year. The original intent of the G&F departments when developing the range extents was to devise a way to estimate herd numbers across an analysis unit rather than showing exactly where elk will be located at a certain time of the year.

The key is finding good elk habitat. Find quality elk habitat and you will find more elk.

Mike

[Indian Summer]

I have a question for you Mike. Actually I think it refers to something that really could be a key factor in hunting for elk based on feed. Can you tell us in general the preferred forage at different times of the year and the transitions that elk might make as the seasons change?

[StartMyHunt]

Sure Joe,

As you are aware, elk are opportunistic feeders and will eat almost any type of vegetation in order to survive. However, they prefer the young and tender forbs and shrubs when available. With that in mind, they will seek out forbs such as elkweed and lupine as they emerge in the spring and early summer as well as aspen and willow shoots. After these become less palatable, they will move on to the green grasses that are prevalent during the summer months such as the sedges and fescues. Throughout the fall, elk can be found feeding primarily on dry grasses, aspen leaves, and mature forbs and shrubs. They will continue to utilize this food source as much as possible until covered by snow. During the winter months, elk are in survival mode and will eat tree bark, dig for any of the dead mature forage mentioned above, and eat the tips of aspen and willow.

As for the transitions, elk will follow the melting snow line in the spring as they move into their summer range in the higher elevations, where they will generally stay until pushed out either by hunting pressure or weather in the fall.

I would like to expand on my earlier point. In my opinion, the elk ranges published by the G&F departments are useful when deciding which unit to hunt, but not very useful for showing where to hunt in a unit. For example, if you were bow hunting and a unit did not have any summer range or summer concentration areas, you would be lucky to find an abundance of elk in this unit during the bow season. However, if an entire unit is summer range or summer concentration range, to me that implies that there should be an abundance of elk in that unit during the bow season. It could be a great unit to bow hunt, but where in the unit do you concentrate your efforts? Many of the units in CO are hundreds of square miles in size which is nearly impossible to adequately cover in the week or two that most of us have the opportunity to hunt.

Another thing to keep in mind concerning the ranges is that they are very dynamic and the boundaries and extents change from year to year depending on the forage conditions and the severity or lack of severity of weather. They are an "average" and are a compilation of many years of surveys and sightings.

Hope this answered your question,

Mike

[cohunter]

Mike, really great info on elk feeding preference! Thanks! Also, your thoughts on using the game concentration data from maps were excellent... You make a lot of sense.