Calling all elk hunters!!

What kind of hunt are you looking for? Wilderness, or National Forest. I have hunted and guided the flat tops area just S.W. of Yampa. It is a wilderness area and if you can get to the trail head it is a four mile hike to the top. I am sure I am not telling you anything, being from Wyo. but I have had my best luck at the top, especially during rifle season. There are ususally a lot of people in that area, and if you are at the top when the sun comes up you can watch the parade of hunters comming up the mountain. They tend to drive the elk back up into a high bowl. I am 3 for 4 in that area and the fourth was a solo bow hunt and it was way to hot so I pulled out after two days.

I have also spent some time south of Gunnison around Lake City. There is a guest ranch over Slumgulion Pass that rents their cabins out very reasonable. I have seen bigger bulls there and way less people, but that also means less elk movement. I can point you in a few directions there as well. I can not tell you with out looking but the area is next to one of Colorado's hot spot draw areas. Let me know what you are thinking and I would be willing to talk further by phone.

.... and if someone finds a good area, they sure as he!! are not going to post it on a public 4m. lol

I know of a couple good spots but I'm not telling.

All the elk in Colorado went to Wyoming and Montana. Go there to hunt and spread the word to other hunters. THERE ARE NO ELK IN COLORADO!

Supplicate said:

We're already in wyoming

I understand about how close people guard their hunting spots, we've done it ourselves.

I guess I should refine the question. For a person (my dad) that wants to go to colorado to kill an elk, not look for elk at some random spot, would it be better to contact a guide service or just go out and wing it? He's in worse shape then me, and I'm not the fittest kid out there, so anything thats going to be more then 5 mile hike one way is going to be pushing it about as far as it can go for this hunt. I know there is no such thing as an "easy" elk hunt, just trying to not do the hardest ones I can think of. Its been something my dad has wanted to do for years and he's finally slowing down with work (sold his business) enough that he can actually think about the hunting and fishing trips he's been dreaming about.

Anyway, thanks for what little info you have given me


:beer;

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I would get a guide then. You aren't gonna get a thing if you go by yourself and limit yourself to a 5 mile hike. Let's put it this way, I logged over 250 miles on the gps over the last Bowhunting season and I saw one 5 point, several cows and calves. None of which gave me a good shot! All were 10-15 miles from the trail. There are too many hunters putting pressure on the elk on Public land and a guide would be the way to go. If your Pops wants a trophy elk, I'd look into New Mexico guides or a guide down in Grand Junction! The elk are huge in those areas! If this truly is a dream for him, look into it.

what PJ said.

A buddy of mine's brother runs this joint. Never been personally but from what I have heard talking with them, I will go some day for sure. May be worth looking in to.

Keep in mind - the deadline to draw tags (if you go that route) is April 1.

April 1 gets earlier every year

For trophys your gonna pay...with your azz or your wallet, take your pick. Just pay up and go to one of the game farms if big antlers is all you want. NW Co has a trophy unit that is hard to draw into and may take years to score a permit and your still up against a lot of odds. If your looking for a good time, hunting some beautiful country, and a slim chance you might get an average bull, then CO is a big place full of Elk, take your pick. No need to pack your dad in 10 miles. Elk are everywhere and never far from roads. They just get sparser and real cagey the closer to roads you get. The area I hunt (N. front range heavy timber) is forage limited so the elk are going to be somewhere in the vicinity of the food at some point, so that narrows down the hunt area. I like to hunt adjacent private ranches/subdivisions (used to be ranches) where all the hay/grass is down in the valleys. I'm relatively successful, but I hunt for meat and that means cows more than bulls.

I always get into elk even though my area is one of the poorest producing in the state (units 8, 191 and surrounding). The secret to my success used to be that not many people hunt my area early on, so even though there are few animals, i could get into elk that weren't completely spooked out of their minds and walk right up to them. Now the bow and muzz seasons are even getting crowded so you might as well rifle hunt. Even with the CWD scare people seem to be flocking in because we're giving up a lot of tags to get combat the spread of CWD. Just too many people, too little access (to much roadless wilderness) and since I hunt solo I don't like packing more than a mile or so now that I'm old and feeble. My motto is, the best place to shoot an elk is near my truck:face-icon-small-win. Good luck with your hunt, but my advice would be to stay in Wyoming cuz you probably have better luck there for less money.

in bear creek is a really good place to go. There are elk all over the place.

Put a big bumper on your truck and drive Rt 13 from Craig to Rifle at night for a couple of days. You're sure to bag at least one elk and several deer along the way. No need to leave your truck except to toss them in the the back with the empties. And no pesky permits to worry about.
There's a sign in Craig that says it's the Elk hunting capital of Colorado. I wonder how many other towns say that.

Steamboat-RN said:

Put a big bumper on your truck and drive Rt 13 from Craig to Rifle at night for a couple of days. You're sure to bag at least one elk and several deer along the way. No need to leave your truck except to toss them in the the back with the empties. And no pesky permits to worry about.
There's a sign in Craig that says it's the Elk hunting capital of Colorado. I wonder how many other towns say that.

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Kremmling is the Sportsman's Paradise

Try the golf course at Winter Park or anywhere downtown Estes Park...damn elk have all turned city slickers!