Beginner questions about CO OTC units

I'm moving to Colorado this summer and am diving right in on an elk hunt. I plan to hunt OTC Archery and 3rd Season Rifle. (I missed the deadline to buy a point this year, DOH) I've been studying up on all of the different facets of the hunt and I have a couple questions I have had a hard time searching for.

It is my understanding that I can get an OTC tag for cow and bull elk in many units for archery. Any elk that I could get into the freezer would be a trophy to me.

1. Do the published hunter success rates take into account all of the OTC hunters? If not, is it still worth considering success rates for OTC units?

2. Should I try to find a "better" unit that is further away, or should I pick a "lesser" unit that is close to home so I can scout more over the summer? (2hr drive time, vs 5hr drive time for example)

I'm always hesitant to ask questions I know have been answered a bunch of times, but I assure you I am studying hard and have been spending countless hours learning all things elk. I just want to get these few questions checked off my list so I can pick a unit and start scouting. Thanks in advance everybody!

First... you can't hunt both Archery and Rifle unless one is an A tag and one is a B, all bull tags are A. Your best bet is to hunt archery and then do cow (B) hunt, but the drawing is passed so you need to get a left over license on Aug 1st when they go on sale. Also note that many of the units are private land only so make sure you read the fine print.

1. Success rates definitely give you a general idea... also look at number of hunter that will tell you how crowded things are going to be.

2. I have done both and I prefer the 5 hour drive... you can also pic a spot to hunt in a unit that is 5+ miles from a road and that will help your chances (I assume you moving to the Denver metro)

This first season you will be a nonresident (you have to be a resident for 180 days) and tags are going to be expensive so I would just get one tag and treat this year as a scouting season... drive out to various units this summer and explore and maybe hunt your OTC archery tag in a different unit each weekend. Expect that you wont get a bull but that you will learn a lot and will be banking that knowledge for seasons to come.

Or,you could scout all of archery when the bulls are vocal,and then go back 2nd or 3rd season with a rifle in otc units

Mvmnts said:

I'm moving to Colorado this summer and am diving right in on an elk hunt. I plan to hunt OTC Archery and 3rd Season Rifle. (I missed the deadline to buy a point this year, DOH) I've been studying up on all of the different facets of the hunt and I have a couple questions I have had a hard time searching for.

It is my understanding that I can get an OTC tag for cow and bull elk in many units for archery. Any elk that I could get into the freezer would be a trophy to me.

1. Do the published hunter success rates take into account all of the OTC hunters? If not, is it still worth considering success rates for OTC units?


2. Should I try to find a "better" unit that is further away, or should I pick a "lesser" unit that is close to home so I can scout more over the summer? (2hr drive time, vs 5hr drive time for example)

I'm always hesitant to ask questions I know have been answered a bunch of times, but I assure you I am studying hard and have been spending countless hours learning all things elk. I just want to get these few questions checked off my list so I can pick a unit and start scouting. Thanks in advance everybody!

Click to expand...

1. Yes, success rates are published by season, inc OTC. Stats are here: http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspx Harvest stats are what you want for selecting units this year. Drawing stats will help when applying in '18. General consensus is Harvest stats should be taken as approximate @ best.

2. Depends: Would you rather hunt w lots of Coloradoans, or lots of nonresidents? I'll suggest selecting a more distant unit w higher success for this year, while still scouting closer units on weekends this year for future reference. The good hunting areas in CO are many, diverse and farflung, after 40 years I still find good new spots.

Feel free to PM, Mvmnts.

wllm1313: wow, thank you! talk about an oversight. I found the List A,B,C chart in the big game brochure and I think I have a handle on it now. So I could:

Get an otc archery either-sex tag guaranteed and hope I get a left over cow tag for rifle.

OR

Get an otc archery cow tag and a rifle bull tag, guaranteed since both are unlimited.

And if I want to have a chance at hunting both seasons in the same unit, I need to scan the limited license tables and look for a list B cow rifle tag with an asterisk showing that there is a chance that there will be leftover tags this year.

Sound correct?

I always recommend archery for new hunters to an area. The weather is usually better and they are vocal towards the end of the season. Also, many units have leftover cow muzzleloader tags and the seasons overlap, so you can do both at the same time since archery is an A tag (and e/s) and OTC, and the cow tag is a B tag. Plus, with archery covering so much of the state, and such a long season, you can hunt an area for a while and if it doesn't pan out you can go to another area and check that out.

john: thanks for the update. I am leaning towards archery, but this will be my first year for elk and for archery, so it's a tough call. Chances of me hunting solo are high, so I like the idea of cold weather keeping my meat in a late rifle season, but on the other hand, I like the warmer weather in general and hunting the rut that comes with archery. I'll probably just be smart and try to find ways to mitigate spoilage and go for archery. They say archery elk is as good as it gets! Worst case, if a rifle tag doesn't pan out, I can always go hunt deer out of state like I normally do. I've always been an out of state, non-res hunter, so it's so new to me to consider that I could hunt weekends after my week long hunting vacation runs out.

For the most part you still get nice cool nights during archery. Get your elk quartered and deboned and hang it in trees in game bags. It'll keep overnight so that you can make your pack outs to your camp and coolers in the morning. Don't put warm meat into your coolers!! Hang it overnight and you'll be ok.

Mvmnts said:

wllm1313: wow, thank you! talk about an oversight. I found the List A,B,C chart in the big game brochure and I think I have a handle on it now. So I could:

Get an otc archery either-sex tag guaranteed and hope I get a left over cow tag for rifle.

OR

Get an otc archery cow tag and a rifle bull tag, guaranteed since both are unlimited.

And if I want to have a chance at hunting both seasons in the same unit, I need to scan the limited license tables and look for a list B cow rifle tag with an asterisk showing that there is a chance that there will be leftover tags this year.

Sound correct?

Click to expand...

What you stated above is correct. You could go either way and things will be fun no matter what. What things will also be is pretty expensive. As Wllm pointed out, you will be an Out of State license holder until 2018. $$$
So, I personally would only buy a cow tag first. Next, I would overlap the cow archery OTC map with the 2nd/3rd rifle OTC Bull map and find which units allowed me to buy a cow archery tag and basically "hunt/scout" a unit that has odds, distance from your house, a decent tag quota, etc....for both Archery and rifle seasons. That's a tall order! Focus on the center of the state or NW.
Then you could go back second season after archery and be much more educated about "tagging out" in the same unit on a more expensive 2nd/3rd rifle bull tag. The best part is, you have a 5:1 better chance of sticking a cow during archery than a bull just based on avg herd sex ratios. Subsequently, if you did harvest a cow during archery, you won't need to buy the more expensive bull tag later. But, You will be 10 times more prepared for rifle season going that route if you don't tag out in archery.
Just keep in mind that the elk you saw during archery will be ghosts by the time 2nd rifle begins. Pay close attention to their habits once muzzleloader starts and it will help you understand just how dynamic elk can be once they hear gunpowder. They are really good at what they do. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten my ass kicked by those creatures.
BTW, welcome to the addiction.

^^ This is a solid plan...

and totally agree about the elk being ghosts by 2nd season... I know some public land spots that don't hold elk during archery but do during rifle simply because of the hunting pressure

Thanks BrokenArrow! That does sound like a solid plan. I'd kick myself for real if I had a chance to arrow a bull and didn't have a tag, but that sounds like the safer bet than trying to rely on leftovers tags. I'm a little queasy seeing my tag cost go from $92 to $1282, but I'm very fortunate in being able to swing both tags if things go well. This is really helpful, now I have a fairly small selection of units to choose from, and I can dive in and start comparing the numbers. I'm tempted to drop a little coin on gohunt, but I think I am going to just save the money for tags lol and make up a spreadsheet on my own.

Mvmnts, you are welcome.
Now that you have had time to digest this plan, I gonna throw a wrench or two in there, but very small ones.
The only amendment to the plan above would be to hang out and wait until after draw results and see what is available on the leftover list. You could supplement or completely change the above plan with:

Scenario 1 - 1st rifle E/S tags (Type A) are sometimes leftover after draw. You could still hunt cow Archery (Type B) in the same unit? But this means you are paying for all the tags upfront because you need to snag the E/S rifle tag the day it goes on sale in August, no waiting to see if you harvest during Archery with a cow tag.
Scenario 2 - Buy a leftover rifle cow tag (Type B) for any of the units/seasons available with large herds. After you secure that, only then buy a E/S archery (Type A) tag. Means you could shoot anything during archery and have a easier (?) hunt later during rifle season. Again, You are buying licenses up front if you are cool with it.

I would stick with the plan I outlined when I wrote the other day, but if your work schedule changes or other life stuff happens, you can have more flexibility this way. Both of these new options I just mentioned are riskier and more expensive up front. But, I wanted to give you a couple options.

Another thing is that I firmly believe is that to earn your first bull, one does so by first shooting a cow. That's a personal mantra I followed and suggest to new hunters to focus on and plan for. Saying that, if something with antlers walked in front of me, I would take it down with no questions asked as my first animal. But, I would also do so only if I was positive that any animal would not get spoiled in any way and be fully harvested. Cows usually are a much easier hunt/harvest and thus more rewarding more quickly.
So, don't focus so much on the tags, just focus on an ethical harvest and adjust your plan accordingly. The tags are the easiest part. After the kill is where you truly earn your keep! I'm also not saying you will make mistakes along the way. I'm just saying that I made mine and I'm glad I took precautionary steps with set goals.
Pay attention to what the experts/wise men on this site have to say. They generously offer a goldmine of information, tricks, and tips. I learn something every time I click on a thread.
Good luck. Can't wait to hear how it goes.