Hello All,
A group of friends and I are heading to the unit 82/86 area for 2nd elk rifle. I think only 1 or 2 of us in our group has actually done any Western hunts, I was sorta inspired by Randy's videos saying "you have no excuse for not hunting elk every year." We've been doing a lot of OnX study and settled on this area due to 20% success rates, difficult terrain limiting hunters, and the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness eliminating engines.
Though we have a rough strategy on where we're going to go and what we're going to do via Randy's videos, I still have a couple questions I'd like to try to get answered here. I had been in contact with a local wildlife officer, but when I went to call him last week I was informed that he'd moved on and was no longer able to be contacted.
-OnX gives summer elk concentration areas, will elk still frequent these areas in mid-late October? How much snow does it take to move them lower?
-We'd like to start high and work our way lower if need be. With that in mind we're looking at dropping in at either Hermit Pass or Hayden Pass. This seems like a place a lot of other hunters would go in. Does anyone have a feel for how much pressure these passes receive?
-I saw the previous post about using existing trail heads to get in and then going a ridge or two off the trail to avoid hunters. This is kind of our plan, to use existing trails to go from drainage to drainage, glassing summer concentration areas. Is that a standard MO for success or are we off in our thinking?
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
A group of friends and I are heading to the unit 82/86 area for 2nd elk rifle. I think only 1 or 2 of us in our group has actually done any Western hunts, I was sorta inspired by Randy's videos saying "you have no excuse for not hunting elk every year." We've been doing a lot of OnX study and settled on this area due to 20% success rates, difficult terrain limiting hunters, and the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness eliminating engines.
Though we have a rough strategy on where we're going to go and what we're going to do via Randy's videos, I still have a couple questions I'd like to try to get answered here. I had been in contact with a local wildlife officer, but when I went to call him last week I was informed that he'd moved on and was no longer able to be contacted.
-OnX gives summer elk concentration areas, will elk still frequent these areas in mid-late October? How much snow does it take to move them lower?
-We'd like to start high and work our way lower if need be. With that in mind we're looking at dropping in at either Hermit Pass or Hayden Pass. This seems like a place a lot of other hunters would go in. Does anyone have a feel for how much pressure these passes receive?
-I saw the previous post about using existing trail heads to get in and then going a ridge or two off the trail to avoid hunters. This is kind of our plan, to use existing trails to go from drainage to drainage, glassing summer concentration areas. Is that a standard MO for success or are we off in our thinking?
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
